elephant
English
Etymology
African elephant
From Middle English elefant, elefaunt, from Old French elefant, elefan, olifant, re-latinized in Middle French as elephant, from Latin elephantus, from Ancient Greek ἐλέφᾱς (eléphās) (gen. ἐλέφαντος (eléphantos)). Believed to be derived from an Afroasiatic form such as Proto-Berber *eḷu (“elephant”) (compare Tamahaq êlu, Tamasheq alu) or Egyptian ꜣbw (“elephant; ivory”). More at ivory. Replaced Middle English olifant (from the aforementioned Old French form, from Vulgar Latin *olifantus), which replaced Old English elpend (“elephant”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɛlɪf(ə)nt/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɛləfənt/
Audio (GA) (file) - (Philippine) IPA(key): /el.e.fant/
- Hyphenation: ele‧phant
Noun
elephant (countable and uncountable, plural elephants)
- A mammal of the order Proboscidea, having a trunk, and two large ivory tusks jutting from the upper jaw.
- (in particular) Any member of the subfamily Elephantinae not also of the genera Mammuthus and Primelephas.
- (figuratively) Anything huge and ponderous.
- (paper, printing) Synonym of elephant paper
- (British, childish) used when counting to add length, so that each count takes about one second
- Let's play hide and seek. I'll count. One elephant, two elephant, three elephant...
- (uncountable, obsolete) Ivory.
- 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- He sent rich gifts of elephant and gold.
- (xiangqi) A xiangqi piece that is moved two points diagonally, may not jump over intervening pieces and may not cross the river.
Synonyms
- (animal): Elephas maximus, Loxodonta africana
- (counting term): see Appendix:Words used as placeholders to count seconds
Hyponyms
Derived terms
- African bush elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
- African elephant (Loxodonta spp.)
- African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
- African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana)
- Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
- Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus)
- baby elephant in the room
- Borneo elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis)
- bull elephant
- cow elephant
- double elephant
- dwarf elephant
- eat an elephant one bite at a time
- Elephant and Castle
- elephant apple
- elephant bed
- elephant beetle (Megasoma elephas, Curculionoidea spp.)
- elephant bird, elephantbird (†Aepyornithidae)
- elephant bug (Curculionoidea spp.)
- elephant bush
- elephant chess
- elephant-color, elephant-colour
- elephant cord
- elephant creeper (Argyreia nervosa)
- elephant dose
- elephant ear, elephant ears
- elephant-ear tree
- elephantess
- elephantfish, elephant fish
- elephant flipping
- elephant folio
- elephant foot (Beaucarnea recurvata, Testudinaria elephantipes etc)
- Elephant Gambit
- elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum)
- elephant grass
- elephant-gravel
- elephant-gray, elephant-grey
- elephant gun
- Elephant Hall
- elephant hawk moth (Deilephila elpenor)
- elephanticide
- elephantid
- elephant in Cairo
- elephant in the corner
- elephant in the kitchen
- elephant in the living room
- elephant in the room
- Elephant Island
- elephantitis
- elephant joke
- elephant juice
- elephant leg
- elephant louse (Haematomyzus elephantis)
- Elephant Man
- elephant man's disease
- elephant man's syndrome
- elephant on the dinner table
- elephant paper
- elephant-path
- elephant pearl
- elephant polo
- elephant race
- elephant-rain
- elephantry
- elephant's breath
- elephant seal (Mirounga spp.)
- elephant's ear, elephant's ears
- Elephant's Foot
- elephant's foot
- elephant's foot umbrella stand
- elephant's-grass
- elephants' graveyard
- elephant shark (Callorhinchidae)
- elephant's head (Pedicularis groenlandica)
- elephantship
- elephant shrew (Macroscelididae)
- elephant skin
- elephant snout (Mormyrus hasselquistii)
- elephant's snout volute
- elephant's teeth
- elephant's teeth
- elephant's toothpaste
- elephant's trunk, elephant trunk (Pachypodium namaquanum or Agave attenuata)
- Elephant's Trunk Nebula
- elephant's trunk plant (Pachypodium namaquanum)
- elephant's tusk
- elephant's-tusks
- elephant's-vine (Fockea multiflora)
- elephant test
- elephant thorn (Acacia tomentosa)
- elephant toothpaste
- elephant tortoise (Testudo gigantea or Testudo elaphantopus)
- elephant trank
- elephant tranquilizer
- elephant trap
- elephant tree (Bursera microphylla)
- elephant-trumpet
- elephant trunkfish (Holothuria fuscopunctata)
- elephant trunk fish (Macrognathus aculeatus)
- Elephant Trunk nebula
- elephant trunk snake (Acrochordus javanicus)
- elephant-tusk (Proboscidea louisianica)
- elephant walk
- elephant yam (Amorphophallus konjac or Amorphophallus paeoniifolius)
- Flying Elephant
- forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
- get a look at the elephant
- he-elephant
- imperial elephant
- Indian elephant (Elephas maximus)
- Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant
- North African elephant (†Loxodonta africana pharaoensis)
- Order of the Elephant
- pad elephant
- pink elephant
- pink elephants
- pseudelephant
- pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis)
- retail elephant
- rogue elephant
- savanna elephant, savannah elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
- sea-elephant
- sea elephant (Mirounga)
- see the elephant
- she-elephant
- shoot an elephant with a BB gun
- show the elephant
- Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus)
- straight-tusked elephant (†Palaeoloxodon antiquus)
- Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus)
- temple elephant
- war elephant
- water elephant
- were-elephant
- white elephant
Related terms
- chryselephantine
- elephancy
- elephanta
- elephanter
- elephantiac
- elephantiasis
- elephantic
- Elephantidae
- elephantine
- elephantoid
- Elephantopus
- Elephas
Descendants
Translations
mammal
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See also
| Xiangqi pieces in English (see also: xiangqi) (layout · text) | ||||||
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| general | advisor | elephant | horse | chariot | cannon | soldier |
Further reading
elephant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - Elephant (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
Middle French
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