ebony

eb·ony (eb′ə nē)

noun pl. -·on·ies

the hard, heavy, dark, durable wood of any of various trees, esp. of a group of persimmons native to tropical Africa, Asia, and Sri Lanka: it is used for furniture and decorative woodwork
any tree that yields this wood

Etymology: ME ebenif < LL(Ec) ebenius < ebenus: see ebon

adjective

made of ebony
like ebony, esp. in color; dark or black
designating a family (Ebenaceae, order Ebenales) of dicotyledonous tropical trees and shrubs, including the persimmon

modif.

jet, midnight, coal black; see black 1.

Preposition: with

inlay: The natural keys are covered with bone and the sharps are made of ebony with boxwood inlays.

Converse of object

have: These instruments have ebony pegs ( as well as fingerboard, nut & saddle ), which enables easier and more accurate tuning.

Adjective modifier

polished: Great black beams, like polished ebony, support the ceiling.
black: Only the finest selected plain black ebony or Indian rosewood is used.
good: Good black ebony has no discernable grain and has an excellent finish direct from the tooling.

Modifies a noun

fingerboard: The neck and scroll are carved from one piece of maple, and an ebony fingerboard fitted.
wood: Fades to a sophisticated hemp and pepper mixture with touches of ebony wood and patchouli.
black: They all seemed to me to be 7ft tall but the prisoner was not ebony black as he had been before.
door: He follows the Seraph down several back corridors and to a private ebony door, where the Seraph leaves him.
eye: He stroked the stallion's soft muzzle and its whirling liquid ebony eyes stilled.
tree: They failed to establish a colony and abandoned the island in 1710 after depleting it of ebony trees and the unfortunate Dodo.

Noun used with modifier

macassar: Curl mahogany veneers inlayed with boxwood lines and macassar ebony.

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