ivory
The hard white form of dentin which forms the tusks of elephants, walruses and other…The hard white form of dentin which forms the tusks of elephants, walruses and other animals.
Recorded US: Neskaya, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
» He carved designs in ivory.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
7 senses(uncountable)The hard white form of dentin which forms the tusks of elephants, walruses and other animals.
a hard smooth ivory colored dentine that makes up most of the tusks of elephants and walruses
(countable, uncountable)A creamy white color, the color of ivory.
a shade of white the color of bleached bones
(countable, uncountable)Something made from or resembling ivory.
(collective, countable, plural, singular, uncountable)The teeth.
(collective, countable, plural, singular, uncountable)The keys of a piano; or, the white keys, as opposed to the black keys (ebonies).
to tickle the ivories
(countable, ethnic, slang, slur, uncountable)A white person.
(countable, informal, uncountable)A die (object bearing numbers, thrown in games of chance).
Examples
28 sentencesHe carved designs in ivory.
Elephants were killed for their ivory.
ruСлонов убивали из-за их бивней. — Selena777
This towel has an ivory color.
Elephant tusks are made of ivory.
Elephant tusks are made out of ivory.
ruСлоновьи бивни сделаны из слоновой кости. — Ooneykcall
deDie Stoßzähne eines Elefanten bestehen aus Elfenbein. — raggione
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 2
By meaning 2
Origin
From Middle English yvory, ivorie, from Anglo-Norman ivurie, from Latin eboreus (“in or ofFrom 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”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: ivoriesSynonyms
4 synonymsWord family
21 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.