Ebonize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To treat wood with a dark stain or chemical process to give it the appearance of ebony
2. The act of darkening wood surfaces by applying dye or stain to mimic the deep black color of ebony
3. A process where wood is colored or finished to simulate the rich black shade of genuine ebony wood

Etymology: Ebony came into English from Latin "hebenus," which took it from Greek "hébenos" and ultimately from Egyptian, where the word for the dark wood was "hbnj." The timber itself was prized long before anyone thought to make other things look like it: ebony, a dense, near-black wood, was a luxury import, and the name spread into English as "heben" and "hebeny" in the Middle English period before settling into the form we use now. Ebonize is a plain formation, built by adding the verb-forming suffix "-ize" to the noun "ebony." The suffix descends from Greek "-izein" through Latin "-izare" and reached English through Old French, so the verb carries the same machinery as words like "realize" or "criticize." Its job is simple: to make something into what the base noun names, so to ebonize a piece of furniture is to give it the dark, polished finish of ebony.

Synonyms: darken, blacken, color, shade, tint

Antonyms: lighten, whiten