Ebur

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A hard, white substance derived from the tusks of elephants, often used for ornamental purposes or in the making of jewelry
2. A dense, creamy material made from the teeth of animals like elephants, valued for its beauty and rarity
3. A precious, ivory-like material extracted primarily from the tusks of certain animals, prized in art and craftsmanship

Etymology: "Ebur" is the Latin word for ivory, and it is the direct ancestor of the English word "ivory" only through a long detour. Latin "ebur" (genitive "eboris") was a neuter noun, and it lies behind the adjective "eburneus," meaning made of ivory or ivory-white, which is where Latin poets often reached for the material. The Latin word itself is generally thought to be of uncertain origin, possibly borrowed from an Afro-Asiatic source connected to ancient Egyptian "ebw," the term for elephant or ivory, though this link is debated among specialists. English did not borrow "ebur" directly. The word "ivory" arrived in Middle English from Old French "ivoire," which came from Latin "eboreus," an adjective meaning "of ivory" formed from "ebur." Over centuries the Latin noun was replaced in everyday speech by this derived adjective, so the form that survived into English is the one that means "made of ivory" rather than the bare noun. The tusk material itself, and the Latin word that named it, faded from the vocabulary of ordinary speakers.

Synonyms: ivory, tusk, ivories, elephant tusk