ruel-bone
English edit
Etymology edit
Learned borrowing from Middle English rewell bon, ruel bon (“walrus ivory”), from Old French roal, rohal (“walrus ivory”), ultimately from Old Norse hrosshvalr (“walrus”).
Noun edit
ruel-bone (plural ruel-bones)
- (archaic, literary) A piece of ivory, generally from a marine mammal.
- 1962, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Sea-Bell:
- White it glimmered, and the sea shimmered
with star-mirrors in a silver net;
cliffs of stone pale as ruel-bone
in the moon-foam were gleaming wet.