elephant
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]
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
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɛlɪf(ə)nt/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɛləfənt/
Audio (General American): (file) - (Philippines) IPA(key): /el.e.fant/
- Hyphenation: ele‧phant
Noun
[edit]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.
- 1613, Thomas Heywood, The Brazen Age, […], London: […] Nicholas Okes, […], →OCLC, Act II, signature [C4], verso:
- She [Diana] hath ſent (to plague vs) a huge ſauadge Boare, / Of an vn-meaſured height and magnitude. / […] / His briſtles poynted like a range of pikes / Ranck't on his backe: his foame ſnovves vvhere he feeds / His tuskes are like the Indian Oliphants.
- (in particular) Any member of the subfamily Elephantinae not also of the genera Mammuthus and Primelephas.
- (figurative) 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
[edit]- (animal): Elephas maximus, Loxodonta africana
- (counting term): see Appendix:Words used as placeholders to count seconds
Hyponyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]- 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
- elephantback
- 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)
- elephantdom
- elephant dose
- elephant ear, elephant ears
- elephant-ear tree
- elephantesque
- 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)
- elephanthood
- 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
- elephantlike
- elephant louse (Haematomyzus elephantis)
- Elephant Man
- elephant man's disease
- elephant man's syndrome
- elephant on the dinner table
- elephantophile
- 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 tooth
- 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
- elephanty
- 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)
- irrelephant
- mammophant
- mimophant
- 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
[edit]Descendants
[edit]- → Hawaiian: ʻelepani
- → Maori: arewhana
- → Tokelauan: elefane
- → Tongan: ʻelefanite
- → Welsh: eliffant
Translations
[edit]mammal
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anything huge and ponderous
See also
[edit]| Xiangqi pieces in English (see also: xiangqi) (layout · text) | ||||||
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| general | advisor | elephant | horse | chariot | cannon | soldier |
Further reading
[edit]
elephant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - Elephant (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
[edit]Middle French
[edit]Noun
[edit]elephant m (plural elephans)
- elephant (animal)
Descendants
[edit]Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English terms derived from Afroasiatic languages
- English terms derived from Proto-Berber
- English terms derived from Egyptian
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- en:Printing
- British English
- English childish terms
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Xiangqi
- en:Chess
- en:Elephants
- en:Paper sizes
- Middle French lemmas
- Middle French nouns
- Middle French masculine nouns
- Middle French countable nouns
- frm:Elephants