hebeninus

Forms

hebeninus (feminine hebenina, neuter hebeninum); first/second-declension adjective^[1] It is also spelled ebeninus.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἑβένινος (hebéninos, “of ebony”).^[1][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Jerome (c. 383–419/420 AD) uses it in his commentary on Ezekiel, of ebony beams and teeth.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

In Britain Bartholomaeus Anglicus repeats the gloss on Ezekiel about ebony wood in the land of Dedan, and it was perhaps also used for “black as ebony, dark”.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome speaks of tigna hebenina, ebony beams.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of ebony.^[2][3][4]
2. (Medieval Latin, uncertain) Black as ebony, dark.^[4]

Related words

• hebenus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de