ivory [ME] The Latin word ebur, from which ivory derives, is related to ancient Egyptian āb or ābu ‘elephant’. Before poachers reduced elephant numbers, ivory was an important item of commerce, used for many functional items as well as for ornaments. The ‘white’ piano keys were made of ivory, and to tickle or tinkle the ivories [M20th] is a familiar expression for ‘to play the piano’. An ivory tower is a state of privileged seclusion or separation from the facts and practicalities of the real world. The phrase is an early 20th-century translation of French tour d’ivoire, used in 1837 by the critic and writer Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, but goes back to the biblical Song of Songs and the liturgy of the Virgin.