ebony

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.

For other uses, see Ebony (disambiguation).

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

Ebony is a general name for very dense black wood. In the strict sense it is yielded by several species in the genus Diospyros, but other heavy, black (or dark colored) woods (from completely unrelated trees) are sometimes also called ebony. Some well-known species of ebony include Diospyros ebenum (Ceylon ebony), native to southern India and Sri Lanka, and Diospyros crassiflora (Gaboon ebony), native to western Africa.

Ebony is one of the most intensely black woods known, which, combined with its very high density (it is one of the woods that sink in water), fine texture, and ability to polish very smoothly, has made it very valuable as an ornamental wood.

a striped ebony

Some species in the genus Diospyros yield so-called striped ebony, with similar physical properties, which is not evenly black, but striped. Most species in the genus do not yield ebony at all, even in those cases where they do yield timber (as in the case of American persimmon, Diospyros virginiana).

Contents 1 Uses 2 Gallery 3 See also 4 External links

Uses

Ebony has a long history of use, with carved pieces having been found in Ancient Egyptian tombs. The word "ebony" derives from the Ancient Egyptian hbny, via the Ancient Greek ἔβενος (ébenos), by way of Latin and Middle English.

By the end of the 16th century, fine cabinets for the luxury trade were made of ebony in Antwerp. The 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 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.

Modern uses are largely restricted to small sizes, particularly in musical instrument making, including piano and harpsichord keys, violin, viola, guitar, and cello fingerboards, endpieces, pegs and chinrests. Traditionally, black piano and harpsichord keys were ebony, and 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 are made of ebony as well. Many plectrums, or guitar picks, are made from this black wood.

In Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka (India), the tree is called Karmara in the native Tulu language. Ebony tree forests which once covered large areas of these districts have shrunk significantly due to rapid urbanization. The wood of ebony is used as firewood, as it can burn even in moist conditions.

As a result of unsustainable harvesting, many species yielding ebony are now considered threatened.

Gallery

A sculpture in ebony (African art).	An ebony clothes brush.	Chess set - black pieces are ebony.	Kamagong (Ebony) Chair
Planks of Gaboon Ebony (in front)	Violin fingerboard

See also

Look up ebony in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• African Blackwood
• Calamander wood
• Ebonol

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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