Meaning and Origin
What does the name Ivory mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
Origin and Meaning of Ivory
User Submitted Origins
African
60%
English
33%
American
4%
Greek
2%
User Submitted Meanings
- A user from Louisiana, U.S. says the name Ivory is of African origin and means "A hard creamy-white substance composing the main part of the tusks of an elephant, walrus, or narwhal, often (especially formerly) used to make ornaments and other articles".
- A user from the United States says the name Ivory means "Elephant tusks".
- A user from Australia says the name Ivory means "Pure. White".
- According to a user from Virginia, U.S., the name Ivory is of African origin and means "Ivory is a hard whiteish yellowish color object thats is worth a lot of money".
- A submission from New Mexico, U.S. says the name Ivory means "Pure soft and elegant" and is of American origin.
- According to a user from Massachusetts, U.S., the name Ivory means "Grassy and mossy".
- According to a user from Louisiana, U.S., the name Ivory means "Kind and beautiful".
International Interest
Also see international interest
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
noun I"vo*ry
Senses
- The hard, white, opaque, fine-grained substance constituting the tusks of the elephant. It is a variety of dentine, characterized by the minuteness and close arrangement of the tubes, as also by their double flexure. It is used in manufacturing articles of ornament or utility.
- The tusks themselves of the elephant, etc.
- Any carving executed in ivory.
- pl.Teeth; as, to show one's ivories .(Slang)
Note: ☞ Ivory is the name commercially given not only to the substance constituting the tusks of the elephant, but also to that of the tusks of the hippopotamus and walrus, the hornlike tusk of the narwhal, etc.
Etymology: OE. ivori, F. ivoire, fr. L. eboreus made of ivory, fr. ebur eboris, ivory, cf. Skr. ibha elephant. Cf. Eburnean
Other Dictionary Sources
- A shade of white the color of bleached bones
- A hard smooth ivory colored dentine that makes up most of the tusks of elephants and walruses
Wiktionary
From Middle English ivorie, from Anglo-Norman ivurie, from Latin eboreus (“in or of ivory”) adjective of ebur (“ivory”) (genitive eboris), from Coptic ⲓⲏⲃ (yēb, “elephant”), from Egyptian 3bw.
- (uncountable) The hard white form of dentine which forms the tusks of elephants, walruses and other animals.
- A creamy white colour, the colour of ivory.
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- Something made from or resembling ivory.
- (collective singular or in plural) The teeth.
- (collective singular or in plural) The keys of a piano.
- (slang) A white person.