# ivory

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈaɪv(ə)ɹi/ · frequency rank #8,949

## Definitions
1. 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. The teeth.
5. The keys of a piano; or, the white keys, as opposed to the black keys (ebonies).
6. A white person.
7. A die (object bearing numbers, thrown in games of chance).

## 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 Egyptian yb (“ivory, Elephantine”) (compare Coptic ⲓⲏⲃ (iēb, “Elephantine”)), from Egyptian ꜣbw (“elephant, ivory, Elephantine”), from Proto-Afroasiatic *leb-. Displaced native Old English elpendbān (literally “elephant bone”).

## Easily confused with
- **ivy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ivory-vs-ivy)
- **Ivo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ivo-vs-ivory)
- **Igor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/igor-vs-ivory)
- **Ivor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ivor-vs-ivory)
- **Iver** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/iver-vs-ivory)
- **irony** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/irony-vs-ivory)

## Common misspellings (7)
`iovry`, `ivorry`, `ivoryy`, `ivoyr`, `ivroy`, `ivvory`, `viory`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ivory