English▸ noun
1 [mass noun] heavy blackish or very dark brown timber from a mainly tropical tree.
▪ [mass noun] a very dark brown or black colour:
his smile flashed against the ebony of his skin.
2 a tree of tropical and warm-temperate regions which produces ebony.
Genera Diospyros and Euclea, family Ebenaceae: numerous species, in particular D. ebenum.
▪ used in names of trees that produce timber similar to ebony, e.g. Jamaican ebony or American ebony.
– ORIGIN late Middle English: from earlier ebon (via Old French and Latin from Greek ebenos ‘ebony tree’), perhaps on the pattern of ivory.