Etymologically
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ivory

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈaɪv(ə)ɹi/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ivorie, borrowed from Anglo-Norman ivorie, from Old North French ivurie,[2][3][4] from Medieval Latin eborium (“ivory”), the noun use of Latin eboreus (“of ivory”),[3][2] from ebur (“ivory”),[2][3][5] probably borrowed through Phoenician from an African source, compare Egyptian ꜣbw (“elephant, ivory”) and Coptic ⲉⲃⲟⲩ (ebou, “ivory”).[3][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The mid-13th century in Etymonline, 1263 in Barnhart; as a surname from 1181.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

It replaced Old English elpendbān (“elephant bone”).[3] As a colour, especially of skin, it is from the 1580s.[3][6] In slang it was used of things made of ivory, such as dice (1830) and piano keys (1818); tickling the ivories is 20th-century.[3][5] Ivories for teeth dates from 1782.[3] Black ivory meant African slaves as merchandise, from 1834, as in a Boston piracy trial.[3][6] An ivory tower is a state of privileged seclusion.[5]

Timeline

  • 1181 – as a surname.[2]
  • 1263 – ivory.[2]
  • 1580s – the colour.[3]
  • 1782 – ivories, teeth.[3]
  • 1818 – ivories, piano keys.[3]
  • 1834 – black ivory, slaves.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The hard creamy-white dentine that makes up the tusks of elephants, walruses and similar animals.
  2. A yellowish-white colour.
  3. An article made of ivory; in the plural, informally, piano keys or teeth.

Adjective

  1. Made of ivory, or of the colour of ivory.

Word family

  • ivorylike
  • ivorybill
  • ivorytype
  • ivory-white
  • ivory tower
  • ivory black
  • ivory gull

Usage notes

In Ireland and parts of the English Midlands and East Anglia, ivory was a dialect name for the ivy.[7][6]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)