Meaning and Origin
What does the name Ebb mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
Origin and Meaning of Ebb
User Submitted Origins
English
60%
Canadian
20%
Hebrew
20%
User Submitted Meanings
- According to a user from South Africa, the name Ebb is of Hebrew origin and means "Star".
International Interest
Also see international interest
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
noun Ebb
The European bunting.
noun Ebb
Senses
- The reflux or flowing back of the tide; the return of the tidal wave toward the sea; -- opposed to flood; as, the boats will go out on the ebb ."Thou shoreless flood which in thy ebb and flow Claspest the limits of morality!" [Shelley.]
- The state or time of passing away; a falling from a better to a worse state; low state or condition; decline; decay."Our ebbof life." [Roscommon.]"Painting was then at its lowest ebb." [Dryden.]"This alternation between unhealthy activity and depression, this ebb and flow of the industrial." [A. T. Hadley.]
Etymology: AS. ebba; akin to Fries. ebba, D. eb ebbe, Dan. & G. ebbe, Sw. ebb, cf. Goth. ibuks backward; prob. akin to E. even.
verb Ebb
Senses
- To flow back; to return, as the water of a tide toward the ocean; -- opposed to flow."That Power who bids the ocean ebb and flow." [Pope.]
- To return or fall back from a better to a worse state; to decline; to decay; to recede."The hours of life ebb fast." [Blackmore.]synonyms: To recede; retire; withdraw; decay; decrease; wane; sink; lower.
Etymology: AS. ebbian; akin to D. & G. ebben, Dan. ebbe. See 2d Ebb
verb Ebb
To cause to flow back.
adjective Ebb
Receding; going out; falling; shallow; low.
Other Dictionary Sources
- The outward flow of the tide
- A gradual decline (in size or strength or power or number)
- Fall away or decline ("The patient's strength ebbed away")
- Hem in fish with stakes and nets so as to prevent them from going back into the sea with the ebb
- Flow back or recede ("the tides ebbed at noon")
Wiktionary
From Middle English ebbe, from Old English ebba (“ebb, tide”), from Proto-Germanic *abjô, *abjǭ (compare West Frisian ebbe, Dutch eb, German Ebbe, Old Norse efja (“countercurrent”)), from Proto-Germanic *ab (“off, away”), from Proto-Indo-European *apó. (compare Old English af). More at of, off.
- The receding movement of the tide.
- The boats will go out on the .
- A gradual decline.
- A low state; a state of depression.
- A European bunting, the corn bunting (Emberiza calandra, syns. Emberiza miliaria, Milaria calandra).
ebb was also found in the following language(s): Swedish