ivory (English)

Where does "ivory" come from?

The word 'ivory' traces its roots back to the ancient Egyptian term 'ꜣbw,' which originally referred to elephants, ivory, and the island of Elephantine. This term traveled through Demotic and Latin as 'eboreus' before evolving into the Anglo-Norman 'ivurie' and Middle English 'ivory.' It ultimately replaced the native Old English 'elpendbān,' which literally translated to 'elephant bone.'

Full etymology tree

• ivory (English), 'Made of ivory.'
  • inherited ivorie (Middle English), 'alternative form of yvory'
    • learned borrowing ivurie (Anglo-Norman)
      • inherited eboreus (Latin), 'ivory'
        • derived ebur (Latin), 'ivory (material)'
          • learned borrowing yb (Demotic)
            • derived ꜣbw (Egyptian), 'cessation (+ m: cessation of (something))'
              • derived ꜣb (Egyptian), 'to stop, to take a break'
                • inherited *leb- (Proto-Afroasiatic)
        • suffix -eus (Latin), 'Used to form adjectives from nouns, and so to nominally indicate the source of an attribute.'

Direct ancestors

• yvory (Middle English)
• eboreus (Latin)
• ꜣbw (Egyptian)
• elpendban (Old English)

Updated July 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris