Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
mahogany en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /məˈhɒɡəni/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /məˈhɑɡəni/ (General-American)
Etymology
A word of unknown origin, concocted in either English or Middle Dutch from one or more exotic phytonyms and common European words.
alternative etymologies
Alternatively from Portuguese mogano, mógono, obsolete forms of mogno, itself of unknown origin (often suggested to be from the English word instead of the reverse), perhaps from an extinct indigenous language, such as a Mayan language originally spoken in Honduras or a South American language, but no known cognates survive. Another theory attempts to link Yoruba moganwo (“trees”, literally “tall ones”), but this has been criticized.
Meanings
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(error-lua-exec) Made of mahogany.
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(error-lua-exec) Having the colour of mahogany; dark reddish-brown.
Forms
wikipedia: Honduras · wikipedia: Indigenous languages of the Americas
mahogany en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /məˈhɒɡəni/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /məˈhɑɡəni/ (General-American)
Etymology
A word of unknown origin, concocted in either English or Middle Dutch from one or more exotic phytonyms and common European words.
alternative etymologies
Alternatively from Portuguese mogano, mógono, obsolete forms of mogno, itself of unknown origin (often suggested to be from the English word instead of the reverse), perhaps from an extinct indigenous language, such as a Mayan language originally spoken in Honduras or a South American language, but no known cognates survive. Another theory attempts to link Yoruba moganwo (“trees”, literally “tall ones”), but this has been criticized.
Meanings
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(error-lua-exec, uncountable) The valuable wood of any of various tropical American evergreen trees, of the genus Swietenia, mostly used to make furniture.
In 2003, at Neal Auction Company in New Orleans, an 1810s mahogany armoire inlaid with ribbons and vines brought $140,000 (the presale estimate was $30,000 to $50,000).
2010 December 9, Eve M. Kahn, “Exploring the Art of Louisiana Furniture”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 18 Jun 2020:A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away[…].
1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
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(countable, error-lua-exec) Any of the trees from which such wood comes.
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(countable, error-lua-exec) (by extension) Any of various kinds of trees, the timber of which resembles that of trees the genus Swietenia.
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(countable, error-lua-exec, regional, uncountable) A Cornish drink made from gin and treacle.
Next day, the fish was 'scrowled' on a gridiron over the fire and eaten with 'mahogany', a powerful mixture of black treacle and gin, a favourite tipple of Cornish fishermen for keeping out the cold!
2006, Sara Paston-Williams, Fish: Recipes from a Busy Island, page 39:William Murdoch […] produced a bottle of port; but I chose mahogany (two parts gin and one part treacle, which Lord Eliot made us at Sir Joshua Reynolds's as a Cornish liquor, but it seems they make it also with brandy, and often add porter to it).
1792, James Boswell, in Danziger & Brady (eds.), Boswell: The Great Biographer (Journals 1789–1795), Yale 1989, p. 178
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(countable, error-lua-exec, uncountable) A reddish-brown color, like that of mahogany wood.
Better she, my dear, than a black Mrs. Sedley, and a dozen of mahogany grandchildren.
1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 6, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
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(colloquial, countable, error-lua-exec, obsolete, uncountable) A table made from mahogany wood; a dining table.
Yet habit—strange thing! what cannot habit accomplish?—Gayer sallies, more merry mirth, better jokes, and brighter repartees, you never heard over your mahogany […]
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:Poets eat and drink without stint — and seldom at their own cost — for what man of mark or likelihood in the moneyed world is there, who is not eager to get their legs under his mahogany?
1842, Dublin University Magazine: A Literary and Political Journal:
Forms
Deriveds
mahogany peony · mahogany glider · cherry mahogany · dry zone mahogany · true mahogany · American mahogany · mahogany tree frog · white mahogany · mahoganize · below the mahogany · pod mahogany · mahogany quahog · mahogany soap · Rhodesian mahogany · mahoganyware · mahogany clam · mahogany row · blue mahogany · rusty mahogany · mahogany gaspipe · cedar mahogany · birchleaf mahogany · Madeira mahogany · Honduras mahogany · rose mahogany · scented mahogany · forest mahogany · African scented mahogany · Honduran mahogany · Burma mahogany · under the mahogany · Brazilian mahogany · Natal mahogany · white mahogany · birch-leaf mahogany · Florida mahogany · gaboon mahogany · mahogany gum · mahogany Spitfire · pink mahogany · mahogany lung · mahogany acid · Spanish mahogany · Kilimanjaro mahogany · Hawaiian mahogany · mahogany bean · brown mahogany · yellow mahogany · Tabasco mahogany · mahogany pine · mahogany browning · horseflesh mahogany · mahogany lily · Gambia mahogany · mountain mahogany · Pacific Coast mahogany · put one's legs under someone's mahogany · mahogany snapper · Philippine mahogany · sapele mahogany · mahogany beebalm · Senegal mahogany · bastard mahogany · southern mahogany · Indian mahogany · Philipine red mahogany · birch leaf mahogany · black mahogany · mahogany flat · red mahogany · Dominican mahogany · West Indian mahogany · Santos mahogany · small-leaved mahogany · mahogany rot · mahogany birch · Colombian mahogany · swamp mahogany · desert mahogany · monarda mahogany · African mahogany · Cuban mahogany · ground mahogany · Australian mahogany · mahogany Japanese iris · sipo mahogany
Descendants
Mahagoni · maoakani · mahonie · mahogani
Translations (95)
hy մահագոնի (tree) · it mogano (tree) · ru махаго́ни (wood) · ca caoba (wood) · ja マホガニー (tree) · izh punapuu (wood) · pl mahoniowiec (tree) · de Mahagoni (wood) · mk махагон (wood) · fr acajou (wood) · hi महोगनी (wood) · bg махаго́н (wood) · pl mahoń (reddish-brown color) · sv mahogny (wood) · nb mahogni (wood) · vo mahun (wood) · nrf acajou (tree) · ca caoba (tree) · el ερυθρόξυλο (wood) · nrf méaguinné (wood) · haw mahakonia (tree) · ja マホガニー (wood) · et mahagonipuu (tree) · fo reyðaviður (wood) · ru кра́сное де́рево (tree) · lad akajú (wood) · pon maoakani (tree) · nl mahonie (tree) · ru кра́сное де́рево (wood) · fi mahonginruskea (reddish-brown color) · cs mahagon (wood) · vo mahunep (tree) · tr maun (tree) · de Mahagonibaum (tree) · th มะฮอกกานี (tree) · tr akaju (tree) · hu mahagóni (tree) · fr acajou (tree) · pl mahoń (wood) · el μαόνι (wood) · ru акажу́ (tree) · tl kaoba (tree) · vo mahunabim (tree) · eo mahagono (tree) · es caoba (tree) · fr mahagoni (tree) · fi mahonki (tree) · bg махаго́н (tree) · nn mahogni (wood) · mi mahokane (tree) · cmn 桃花心木 (tree) · tr maun rengi (reddish-brown color) · hu mahagóni (wood) · pt mogno (wood) · vo mahunaboad (wood) · da mahogni (tree) · id mahoni (wood) · ht akajou (wood) · fr acajou (reddish-brown color) · tr akaju (wood) · ar مَاهُوجَنِي (tree) · ru махаго́ниевое де́рево (tree) · ht akajou (tree) · gu મહોગની (tree) · arz مجنة (tree) · bg махаго́н (reddish-brown color) · tl kaoba (wood) · pt acaju (wood) · nrf acajou (wood) · th มะฮอกกานี (wood) · cmn 桃花心木 (wood) · pon maoakani (wood) · ro acaju (tree) · hy կարմրածառ (tree) · ro mahon (tree) · da mahogni (wood) · ro mahon (wood) · eo mahagono (wood) · vi dái ngựa (tree) · el μαόνι (tree) · fi mahonki (wood) · pt acaju (reddish-brown color) · fi mahonginpunainen (reddish-brown color) · es caoba (wood) · hi महोगनी (tree) · vo mahun (tree) · nrf méaguinné (tree) · nl mahonie (wood) · id mahoni (tree) · ro acaju (wood) · tr maun (wood) · it mogano (wood) · izh punapuu (tree) · pt mogno (tree) · ms mahogani (tree)
wikipedia: Honduras · wikipedia: Indigenous languages of the Americas