-nē, -ni noun
( -es )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: origin unknown
1. : the wood of any of various chiefly tropical trees of the family Meliaceae:
a.
(1) : the durable yellowish brown to reddish brown usually moderately hard and heavy wood of a West Indian tree ( Swietenia mahagoni ) that is readily worked, takes a high polish when dressed, can be cut to show numerous striking figures because of its well differentiated structural elements and overlapping grain, and is widely used for cabinetwork and fine finish work — called also Cuban mahogany, Dominican mahogany
(2) : the similar wood of any other tree of the genus Swietenia — called also Honduras mahogany
b. : any of several African woods more or less similar to New World mahogany:
(1) : the rather hard heavy usually odorless wood of trees of the genus Khaya — called also African mahogany
(2) : the rather lightweight cedar-scented wood of trees of the genus Entandrophragma that varies in color from pinkish to deep reddish brown — called also African scented mahogany, cedar mahogany, sapele mahogany
2. : any of various woods resembling or substituted for mahogany obtained from trees of the family Meliaceae — not used technically without a qualifying term; see philippine mahogany
3. also mahogany tree
a. : a tree of the genus Swietenia ; especially : a West Indian tree ( S. mahagoni )
b. : an African tree of the family Meliaceae that yields mahogany
c. : a tree not belonging to the family Meliaceae that yields mahogany
4.
a. : table
ranged around the mahogany are union and company representatives — Lawrence Galton
especially : dining table
other families did not welcome us to their mahogany — W.M.Thackeray
b. : counter 4b, bar 5a
every interval sees twenty orchestral players with their elbows on the mahogany — Charles Reid
5. also mahogany brown or mahogany red : a moderate reddish brown that is yellower and slightly darker and less strong than roan, less strong than oxblood, redder and deeper than russet tan, and redder and slightly deeper than rustic brown
6.
a. dialect England : a Cornish drink made of gin and treacle
b. : a strong drink made of brandy and water