ebony

ebony
/eb"euh nee/, n., pl. ebonies, adj.
n.
1. a hard, heavy, durable wood, most highly prized when black, from various tropical trees of the genus Diospyros, as D. ebenum of southern India and Sri Lanka, used for cabinetwork, ornamental objects, etc.
2. any tree yielding such wood.
3. any of various similar woods or trees.
4. a deep, lustrous black.
adj.
5. Also, ebon. made of ebony.
6. of a deep, lustrous black.
[1590-1600; earlier hebeny; see EBON; -y perh. after IVORY]

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Wood of several species of trees of the genus Diospyros (family Ebenaceae), found widely in the tropics.

The best is very heavy, almost black, and from heartwood only. Because of its colour, durability, hardness, and ability to take a high polish, ebony is used for cabinetwork and inlaying, piano keys, knife handles, and turned articles. The best Indian and Ceylon ebony is produced by D. ebenum, which grows in abundance west of Trincomalee in Sri Lanka. Jamaica, American, or green ebony comes from Brya ebenus, a leguminous tree or shrub.

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▪ American magazine
      monthly magazine geared to a middle-class African American readership. It was the first black-oriented magazine in the United States to attain national circulation.

      Ebony was founded in 1945 by John H. Johnson (Johnson, John H.) of Chicago, whose first publishing venture was the pocket-size Negro Digest (1942). Johnson envisioned Ebony as a news and photo magazine patterned much after Life magazine but specifically designed for African American readers. Ebony was immediately successful. It initially highlighted African American entertainers and sports figures but has since shifted its editorial focus to include black achievement of all sorts. By the beginning of the 21st century, its circulation had reached about 1.8 million. The circulation of Jet, another Johnson magazine with an emphasis on news as well as entertainment, was about 900,000.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ebony — (engl. Ebenholz) heißen: Mehrere Orte in den Vereinigten Staaten: Ebony (Arkansas) Ebony (Texas) Ebony (Virginia) Eine Zeitschrift, siehe Ebony (Zeitschrift) Träger des Vornamens Ebony: Ebony Browne, US amerikanische Singer Songwriterin Ebony… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ebony — Eb on*y, a. Made of ebony, or resembling ebony; black; as, an ebony countenance. [1913 Webster] This ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling. Poe. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ebony — Eb on*y, n.; pl. {Ebonies}. [F. [ e]b[ e]ne, L. ebenus, fr. Gr. ?; prob. of Semitic origin; cf. Heb. hobn[=i]m, pl. Cf. {Ebon}.] A hard, heavy, and durable wood, which admits of a fine polish or gloss. The usual color is black, but it also occurs …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • EBONY — EBONY, heartwood of certain trees. The Hebrew word hovenim, which occurs in Ezekiel (27:15) in a reference to Tyre s commerce in horns of ivory and hovenim, is identified by most translators and exegetes as ebony, called hbn in Egyptian. Several… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ebony — 1590s, from hebenyf (late 14c.), perhaps a M.E. misreading of L. hebeninus of ebony, from Gk. ebeninos, from ebenos ebony, probably from Egyptian hbnj or another Semitic source. Figurative use to suggest intense blackness is from 1620s. As an… …   Etymology dictionary

  • ebony — [eb′ə nē] n. pl. ebonies [ME ebenif < LL(Ec) ebenius < ebenus: see EBON] 1. the hard, heavy, dark, durable wood of any of various trees, esp. of a group of persimmons native to tropical Africa, Asia, and Sri Lanka: it is used for furniture… …   English World dictionary

  • ebony — ► NOUN 1) heavy blackish or very dark brown wood from a tree of tropical and warm regions. 2) a very dark brown or black colour. ORIGIN Greek ebenos ebony tree …   English terms dictionary

  • Ebony — f English: from the name of the deeply black wood (Late Latin ebenius, from Greek ebenos; the word seems to be ultimately of Egyptian origin). The name has been adopted very recently (since the 1970s) by Blacks as a symbol of pride in their… …   First names dictionary

  • ébony — (Noël Essi Kouamé, dit Noël X.) (1944 1986) poète ivoirien: Déjà vu (1983) …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Ebony —   [ ebənɪ, englisch] das, (s), das Ebenholz …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Ebony — trademark a US monthly magazine especially for ↑African Americans …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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