The word 'ebony' is originally from Egyptian 'hbnj'

'Ebony' is a word borrowed from Egyptian 'hbnj'. The word entered the English language some time around 1597.

ebony [noun] [1597]

• a hard heavy blackish wood yielded by various tropical chiefly southeast Asian trees (genus Diospyros of the family Ebe...
• a tree yielding ebony
• any of several trees yielding wood like ebony

See 'ebony' on the Loan Words Map

See more loan words from Egyptian.

Etymology: Probably from Late Latin 'hebeninus' of ebony, from Greek 'ebeninos' from 'ebenos' ebony, from Egyptian 'hbnj'

See more loan words from 1500s.