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Webster 1913 Edition

Ebony

Eb′on-y

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Ebonies
(#)
.
[F.
ébène
, L.
ebenus
, fr. Gr. [GREEK]; prob. of Semitic origin; cf. Heb.
hobnīm
, 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 red or green.
☞ The finest black ebony is the heartwood of
Diospyros reticulata
, of the Mauritius. Other species of the same genus (
D. Ebenum
,
Melanoxylon
, etc.), furnish the ebony of the East Indies and Ceylon. The West Indian green ebony is from a leguminous tree (
Brya Ebenus
), and from the
Excæcaria glandulosa
.

Eb′on-y

,
Adj.
Made of ebony, or resembling ebony; black;
as, an
ebony
countenance
.
This
ebony
bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling.
Poe.

Webster 1828 Edition

Ebony

EB'ONY

,
Noun.
[L. ebenus.] A species of hard,heavy and durable wood, which admits of a fine polish or gloss; said to be brought from Madagascar. The most usual color is black, red or green. The best is a jet black, free from veins and rind, very heavy, astringent and of an acrid pungent taste. On burning coals it yields an agreeable perfume, and when green it readily takes fire from its abundance of fat. It is wrought into toys, and used for mosaic and inlaid work.

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