Meaning and Origin
What does the name Ebb mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
User Submitted Origins
User Submitted Meanings
- According to a user from South Africa, the name Ebb is of Hebrew origin and means "Star".
- 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.
- 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
- 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")
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