ἐλέφας

Ancient Greek

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elephant

Alternative forms

ἐλέφαις (eléphais) — Aeolic

Etymology

The start of the word may be related to Hamit. eḷu (whence Modern Persian (pīl) and Arabic فيل (fīl)). The end of the word may be related to Egyptian ꜣbw

and Coptic εβυ/εβου; see also Latin ebur.^[1] (The Egyptian word is reconstructed as earlier /'lu:bu ~ 'lu:baw/, later /ˈʔeːbə/.) Cognate with Mycenaean Greek 𐀁𐀩𐀞 (e-re-pa /⁠elephās⁠/); compare also Hittite 𒆷𒄴𒉺𒀸 (laḫpaš, “ivory”), Proto-Berber *eḷu, and Sanskrit इभ (íbha).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /e.lé.pʰaːs/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /eˈle.pʰas/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /eˈle.ɸas/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /eˈle.fas/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /eˈle.fas/

Noun

ἐλέφᾱς • (eléphās) m or f (genitive ἐλέφαντος); third declension

elephant
(masculine) ivory

Usage notes

Two irregular forms are attested:
- A genitive singular ἐλεφάντου in an inscription found in Delos from the 2nd cent. BCE:
  - Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 35.286:
    ἐλεφάντου λεπτοῦ τάλαντον δαψιλές
    elephántou leptoû tálanton dapsilés
    a full talent of finely worked ivory
- A dative plural ἐλεφάντοις in the Septuagint, 1 Maccabees 1.17, as a variant reading for regular ἐλέφασι(ν).

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ, ἡ ἐλέφᾱς; τοῦ, τῆς ἐλέφᾰντος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ὁ, ἡ ἐλέφᾱς ho, hē eléphās	οἱ, αἱ ἐλέφᾰντες hoi, hai eléphăntes
Genitive	τοῦ, τῆς ἐλέφᾰντος / ἐλεφᾰ́ντου toû, tês eléphăntos / elephắntou	τῶν ἐλεφᾰ́ντων tôn elephắntōn
Dative	τῷ, τῇ ἐλέφᾰντῐ tôi, têi eléphăntĭ	τοῖς, ταῖς ἐλέφᾱσῐ / ἐλέφᾱσῐν / ἐλεφᾰ́ντοις toîs, taîs eléphāsĭ / eléphāsĭn / elephắntois
Accusative	τὸν, τὴν ἐλέφᾰντᾰ tòn, tḕn eléphăntă	τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς ἐλέφᾰντᾰς toùs, tā̀s eléphăntăs
Vocative	ἐλέφᾰν eléphăn	ἐλέφᾰντες eléphăntes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

ἐλεφᾰντᾰ́ρχης (elephăntắrkhēs)
Ἐλεφαντίνη (Elephantínē)
ἐλεφᾰντομᾰχῐ́ᾱ (elephăntomăkhĭ́ā)

Descendants

Greek: ελέφας (eléfas), ελέφαντας (eléfantas)
→ Old Church Slavonic: е҆лефа́нтъ (elefántŭ), е҆лефа́нтесъ (elefántesŭ)
- → Old Ruthenian: елефа́нтъ (elefánt)
- → Russian: элефа́нт (elefánt) (archaic)
→ Latin: elephās (see there for further descendants)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἐλέφας, -αντος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 409-10

“ἐλέφας”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ἐλέφας”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“ἐλέφας”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
ἐλέφας in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ἐλέφας in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
ἐλέφας in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 265
olifantus 1
olifantus 2

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἐλέφας, -αντος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 409-10

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