Etymologically
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eburneus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 14:57. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛˈbʊr.ne.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈbur.ne.us][1]

Forms

eburneus (feminine eburnea, neuter eburneum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ebur (“ivory”) + -neus;[2][3] Wiktionary analyses it as eburnus (“of ivory”) with the suffix -eus.[1] The noun is a loanword: the OLD and Köbler compare an Egyptian word for elephant and ivory,[2][4] Egyptian ꜣbw (“ivory, elephant”),[1] and Etymonline thinks it came to Latin through Phoenician.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cicero,[4] who speaks in the Verrines of an ivory statue, signum eburneum, and of ivory tusks of great size taken from a shrine.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It means made of ivory: Livy has dentes eburnei, elephants' tusks, Columella ivory dust as a remedy, and Suetonius an ivory couch, manger and chariots.[2][7] The shorter eburnus is its mostly poetic equivalent.[7] In Ovid it also means white as ivory, of arms, neck and shoulders.[2][7]

Conte gives it as the source of Italian eburneo.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of an ivory statue and of elephants' tusks.[2][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses dentes eburnei for elephants' tusks.[7][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of arms white as ivory.[2][4]
  • 1st century AD – Columella mentions ivory dust as a remedy.[2][4]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of an ivory couch and chariots.[7][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Made of ivory;[2][7] dēns eburneus, an elephant's tusk.[2][7]
  2. Ivory-coloured, white as ivory.[2][7][1]

Word family

  • eburneolus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press