ivory

Etymology

From Middle English yvory, ivorie, from Anglo-Norman ivurie, from Latin eboreus (“in or of ivory”) adjective of ebur (“ivory”) (genitive eboris), from Coptic ⲓⲏⲃ (iēb, “Elephantine, (unattested) *ivory”) or its ancestor Egyptian ꜣbw (“elephant, ivory, Elephantine”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaɪvəɹi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: i‧vo‧ry

Noun

ivory (countable and uncountable, plural ivories)

1. (uncountable) The hard white form of dentine which forms the tusks of elephants, walruses and other animals.
2. A creamy white colour, the colour of ivory.

   ivory colour:  

3. Something made from or resembling ivory.
4. (collective singular or in plural) The teeth.
5. (collective singular or in plural) The keys of a piano.
6. (slang) A white person.

Adjective

ivory (not comparable)

1. Made of ivory.
   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 10, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     Men that I knew around Wapatomac didn't wear high, shiny plug hats, nor yeller spring overcoats, nor carry canes with ivory heads as big as a catboat's anchor, as you might say.

2. Resembling or having the colour of ivory.
   • 1938, Interior Decoration To-day (page 132)

     The walls and ceiling of this drawing-room in Montague Square are painted ivory.

See also

• odontolite
• scrimshaw
• whalebone
• Appendix:Colors

Noun

ivory

1. Alternative form of yvory