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Added 9 October 2026

ivory

/ˈaɪv(ə)ɹi/ noun

In Latin: ebur Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about ivory at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A hard smooth ivory colored dentine that makes up most of the tusks of elephants and walruses.
A shade of white the color of bleached bones.

Origin

From Middle English yvory, ivorie, from Anglo-Norman ivurie, from Latin eboreus (“in or of ivory”) adjective of ebur (“ivory”) (genitive eboris), from Demotic Egyptian yb (“ivory, Elephantine”) (compare Coptic ⲓⲏⲃ (iēb, “Elephantine”)), from Egyptian ꜣbw (“elephant, ivory, Elephantine”), from Proto-Afroasiatic *leb-. Displaced native Old English elpendbān (literally “elephant bone”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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