ebony

(ĕb'ə-nē)

1. Any of various tropical Asian or African trees of the genus Diospyros.
2. The wood of such a tree, especially the hard black heartwood of D. ebenum or certain other species, used in cabinetwork and inlaying and for piano keys.
3. The hard dark wood of various other trees.
4. The color black; ebon.

1. Made of or suggesting ebony.
2. Black in color.

[Probably from Middle English hebenyf, ebony wood, from alteration of Late Latin hebeninus, of ebony, from Greek ebeninos, from ebenos, ebony tree, from Egyptian hbny.]

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A genus, Diospyros, of the ebony family, containing more than 250 species. Some species are important for their succulent fruits, such as date plum, kaki plum, and persimmon, and several for their timber, particularly the heartwood, which is the true ebony of commerce. See also Ebenales.

Although it is popularly supposed to be a black wood, most species have a heartwood that is only streaked and mottled with black. The heartwood is very brittle, and is difficult to work, but it has long been in demand. The sapwood is white, becoming bluish or reddish when cut.

Black ebony is used for knife handles, piano keys, finger boards of violins, hairbrush backs, inlays, and marquetry. Some of the woods called ebony, however, belong to different families, especially the pulse family, Leguminosae.

Persimmon (D. virginiana), of the southeastern United States, is one of numerous tropical or subtropical species. The species in tropical America are too small or rare to be of economic value, although several of them have black heartwood used locally for making walking sticks, inlays, and miscellaneous articles of turnery and carving.

adjective

Of the darkest achromatic visual value: black, ebon, inky, jet¹, jetty, onyx, pitch-black, pitchy, sable, sooty. See colors/colorless.

Wood of a number of tropical species usually distinguished by its dark color, durability, and hardness; used for carving, ornamental cabinetwork, etc.

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• Trees
• Hardwoods
• Black

For other uses, see Ebony (disambiguation).

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Rough ebony

Ebony is a dense black wood, most commonly yielded by several species in the genus Diospyros, but ebony may also refer to other heavy, black (or dark colored) woods from unrelated species. Ebony is dense enough to sink in water. Its fine texture, and very smooth finish when polished, make it valuable as an ornamental wood. The word "ebony" derives from the Ancient Egyptian hbny, via the Ancient Greek ἔβενος (ébenos), by way of Latin and Middle English.

Contents 1 Species 2 Uses 3 Gallery 4 See also 5 External links

Species

Species of ebony include Diospyros ebenum (Ceylon ebony), native to southern India and Sri Lanka; Diospyros crassiflora (Gaboon ebony), native to western Africa; and Diospyros celebica (Macassar ebony), native to Indonesia and prized for its luxuriant, multi-colored wood grain. Mauritius ebony, Diospyros tesselaria, was largely exploited by the Dutch in the 17th century. Some species in the genus Diospyros yield an ebony with similar physical properties, but striped rather than evenly black (Diospyros ebenum).

Uses

Ebony label depicting the pharaoh Den, found in his tomb in Abydos, circa 3000 BC

Ebony has a long history of use, with carved pieces having been found in Ancient Egyptian tombs. By the end of the 16th century, fine cabinets for the luxury trade were made of ebony in Antwerp. The wood's dense hardness lent itself to refined moldings framing finely detailed pictorial panels with carving in very low relief (bas-relief), usually of allegorical subjects, or with scenes taken from classical or Christian history. Within a short time, such cabinets were also being made in Paris, where their makers became known as ébénistes, which remains the French term for a cabinetmaker.

Elephant carvings from Ceylon, made from ebony. In this case likely Gaboon ebony (Diospyros crassiflora)

Modern uses are largely restricted to small items, particularly musical instrument parts, including black piano and harpsichord keys, violin, viola, guitar, double bass, and cello fingerboards, tailpieces, pegs, chinrests, and bow frogs. Many plectrums, or guitar picks, are made from this black wood. Traditionally, the black pieces in chess sets were made from ebony, with rare boxwood or ivory being used for the white pieces. Modern East Midlands-style lace-making bobbins, also being small, are often made of ebony and look particularly decorative when bound with brass or silver wire. Due to its strength, many handgun grips and rifle fore-end tips are made of ebony as well.

As a result of unsustainable harvesting, many species yielding ebony are now considered threatened. Africa in particular has had most of its indigenous ebony cut down illegally, and for this reason it has become common for street traders to blacken lighter woods with shoe polish in an effort to make a sale.

Gallery

• 

  Ebony and ivory keys on a piano keyboard

• 

  A sculpture in ebony (African art)

• 

  An ebony clothes brush

• 

  Chess set - the black pieces are ebony

• 

  Kamagong (ebony) chair

• 

  Planks of Gaboon ebony (in front)

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  Violin fingerboard and tuning pegs

• 

  Ebony Diospyros ebenum, striped ebony

See also

Look up ebony in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• African Blackwood
• Calamander wood
• Ebonite
• Ebonol
• Illegal logging in Madagascar

External links

• Red List -- For recommendations found under the IUCN
• Ebony Musical Instrument

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - ibenholt
adj. - sort, ibenholt-

Nederlands (Dutch)
ebbenhout, donker

Français (French)
n. - ébène
adj. - noir d'ébène, d'ébène, en ébène

Deutsch (German)
n. - Ebenholz
adj. - schwarz, Ebenholz-

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - έβενος, (ως επίθ.) εβένινος, κατάμαυρος

Italiano (Italian)
ebano

Português (Portuguese)
n. - ébano (m) (Bot.)

Русский (Russian)
эбонит, черное дерево

Español (Spanish)
n. - ébano
adj. - ébano

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - ebenholts

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
黑檀, 乌木, 乌木制的, 黑檀的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 黑檀, 烏木
adj. - 烏木製的, 黑檀的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 흑단
adj. - 흑단으로 만든, 새까만

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 黒檀, 黒檀色
adj. - 黒檀製の, 黒檀のような

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) خشب الأبنوس, أو شجره‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮עץ שחור קשה המשמש לייצור רהיטים, הובנה, שחור‬
adj. - ‮עץ שחור קשה המשמש לייצור רהיטים, הובנה, שחור‬

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