different between ivory vs alabaster

English

Etymology

From Middle English yvory, ivorie, from Anglo-Norman ivurie, from Latin eboreus (“in or of ivory”) adjective of ebur (“ivory”) (genitive eboris), from Demotic yb (“ivory, Elephantine”) (compare Coptic ??? (i?b, “Elephantine”)), from Egyptian ?bw (“elephant, ivory, Elephantine”). Displaced native Old English elpendb?n (literally “elephant bone”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a?v(?)?i/
• Hyphenation: i?vo?ry, ivo?ry

Noun

ivory (countable and uncountable, plural ivories)

1. (uncountable) The hard white form of dentin which forms the tusks of elephants, walruses and other animals.
2. A creamy white color, the color of ivory.

3. Something made from or resembling ivory.
4. (collective, singular or in plural) The teeth.
5. (collective, singular or in plural) The keys of a piano.

   Coordinate term: ebony

6. (slang) A white person.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:white person

Translations

See also

• Galalith

Adjective

ivory (not comparable)

1. Made of ivory.
2. Resembling or having the colour of ivory.
   • 1938, Interior Decoration To-day (page 132)

     The walls and ceiling of this drawing-room in Montague Square are painted ivory.

Derived terms

Related terms

• chryselephantine
• eburnation

Translations

See also

• odontolite
• scrimshaw
• whalebone
• Appendix:Colors

Middle English

Noun

ivory

1. Alternative form of yvory

English

Alternative forms

• alabastre (obsolete)
• alablaster (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English alabastre, from Old French alabastre, from Latin alabaster (“box for perfume made of alabaster”), from Ancient Greek ?????????? (alábastros), from earlier ????????? (alábastos, “vase made of alabaster”). This may further derive from Egyptian ?j-r-b?stjt (“vessel of the Egyptian goddess Bast”). The Latin suffix -aster is unrelated, but may have influenced the spelling of the borrowing from Ancient Greek (whence a direct loan could have been rendered as *alabastrus).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?æl.??b??s.t?/, /?æl.??bæs.t?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?æl.??bæs.t?/
• Rhymes: -??st?(?), -æst?(?)

Noun

alabaster (usually uncountable, plural alabasters)

1. A fine-grained white or lightly-tinted variety of gypsum, used ornamentally.
2. (historical) A variety of calcite, translucent and sometimes banded.
3. (color) An off-white colour, like that of alabaster.

Translations

Adjective

alabaster (not comparable)

1. Made of alabaster.
2. Resembling alabaster: white, pale, translucent.

Translations

Further reading

• alabaster on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• alabastre

Latin

Alternative forms

• alabastrum

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ?????????? (alábastros), from earlier ????????? (alábastos, “vase made of alabaster”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /a.la?bas.ter/, [ä??ä?bäs?t??r]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /a.la?bas.ter/, [?l??b?st??r]

Noun

alabaster m (genitive alabastr?); second declension

1. a box, tapering to a point at the top, for perfumes or unguents

Declension

Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).

Descendants

References

• alabaster in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• alabaster in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• alabaster in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia?^[3]

Middle English

Noun

alabaster

1. Alternative form of alabastre

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin alabaster.

Noun

alabaster m inan

1. alabaster

Declension

Derived terms

• alabastrowy

Further reading

• alabaster in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin alabaster.

Noun

alabaster m (Cyrillic spelling ?????????)

1. alabaster

   Synonyms: alabastar, ubjel