ebony

Where does the word "ebony" come from? It comes from Egyptian hbny, passing through Ancient Greek and Latin before entering English (1500s).

Ebony’s story begins in Egyptian: hbny meant “a dense black wood.” Named a dense black wood sourced from Nubia. By ancient, the word had taken hold in Ancient Greek as ebenos. Greek traders adapted the Egyptian name for the prized black wood. From there it passed into Latin as ebenus by ancient. Romans continued using the Greek-derived term in natural histories. It reached English by 1500s as ebony. Settled into English via Latin, later extended to describe a deep black color. Today, ebony means a dense, black hardwood prized for fine furniture and carvings; also used to describe a deep black color.

1. Stage 1 · Egyptian · ancient hbny "a dense black wood", named a dense black wood sourced from Nubia.
2. Stage 2 · Ancient Greek · ancient ebenos "ebony wood", Greek traders adapted the Egyptian name for the prized black wood.
3. Stage 3 · Latin · ancient ebenus "ebony wood", Romans continued using the Greek-derived term in natural histories.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1500s ebony "a hard black wood, or the color black", settled into English via Latin, later extended to describe a deep black color.