ebon

UK/ˈɛbən/US/ˈɛbən/

adjectiveC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speech — ebony sits at #8,763Too rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Ebon means deep black, in poetic use. Ebon hair, an ebon sky, ebon black.

It is the poetic short form of ebony and survives only in verse and in deliberately archaic writing. The ebony tree gives the wood, which is one of the few timbers dense enough to sink in water.

Definitions of ebon

1adjectiveebonDeep black, in poetic use.C2
“The poet described her ebon hair spread across the pillow.”

ebon is a colour.

Where it comes from

Old French eban comes from Latin ebenus, from Greek ebenos, the ebony tree.

Ancient Greek
ἔβενος — ebony tree
Latin
ebenus
Old French
eban
English, today
ebon

From Old French eban (modern ébène), from Latin ebenus, from Ancient Greek ἔβενος (“ebony tree”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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