ivory English · revision 15531

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=mid-13th century|origins=la ebur}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈaɪv(ə)ɹi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|ivorie]], [[bor|xno|ivorie]], from Old North French [[m|fro|ivurie]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) from [[la-med|eborium|t=ivory]], the noun use of [[la|eboreus|t=of ivory]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|ebur|t=ivory]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) probably borrowed through Phoenician from an African source, compare [[egy|ꜣbw|t=elephant, ivory]] and [[cop|ⲉⲃⲟⲩ|tr=ebou|t=ivory]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The mid-13th century in Etymonline, 1263 in Barnhart; as a surname from 1181.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It replaced Old English [[m|ang|elpendbān|t=elephant bone]].^(Etymonline) As a colour, especially of skin, it is from the 1580s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In slang it was used of things made of ivory, such as dice (1830) and piano keys (1818); ''tickling the ivories'' is 20th-century.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) ''Ivories'' for teeth dates from 1782.^(Etymonline) Black ivory meant African slaves as merchandise, from 1834, as in a Boston piracy trial.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) An ivory tower is a state of privileged seclusion.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1181 – as a surname.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1263 – ivory.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1580s – the colour.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1782 – ivories, teeth.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1818 – ivories, piano keys.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1834 – black ivory, slaves.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The hard creamy-white [[dentine]] that makes up the [[tusk|alt=tusks]] of elephants, walruses and similar animals.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A yellowish-white colour.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An article made of ivory; in the plural, informally, piano keys or teeth.^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Made of ivory, or of the colour of ivory.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ivorylike]]

+ * [[ivorybill]]

+ * [[ivorytype]]

+ * [[ivory-white]]

+ * [[ivory tower]]

+ * [[ivory black]]

+ * [[ivory gull]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chryselephantine]]

+ * [[eburnation]]

+ * [[elephant]]

+ * [[tusk]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Ireland and parts of the English Midlands and East Anglia, ivory was a dialect name for the ivy.^(Wright 1898)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}