IVORY

noun (plural -ries) Etymology: Middle English ivorie, from Anglo-French ivoire, ivurie, from Latin eboreus of ~, from ebor-, ebur ~, from Egyptian ?b, ?bw elephant, ~ Date: 13th century 1. the hard creamy-white modified dentine that composes the tusks of a tusked mammal (as an elephant, walrus, or narwhal), a tusk that yields ~, a variable color averaging a pale yellow, tooth , something (as a piano key) made of ~ or of a similar substance, ~ adjective