elephant
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]
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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): /ˈɛlɪfənt/
- (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈɛləfənt/
Audio (General American); /ˈɛl.ə.fənt/: (file)
- (Australia, New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈeləfənt/
- (Philippines) IPA(key): /elefant/
- Hyphenation: ele‧phant
Noun
[edit]elephant (countable and uncountable, plural elephants)
- A large mammal of the family Elephantidae in the order Proboscidea, having a trunk, and native to Africa and Asia.
- Synonym: elephantid
- 1541, Thomas Elyote [i.e., Thomas Elyot], “The Preface. To All the Nobilitee of this Flourishyng Realme of England, Thomas Elyote Knight Desyreth Increase of Vertue and Honour.”, in [Aelius Lampridius], translated by Thomas Elyote, The Image of Gouernaunce Complied of the Actes and Sentences Notable, of the Most Noble Emperour Alexander Seuerus, […], [London]: […] Thomas Berthelett, published 1549, →OCLC:
- [A] puiſſant olyphant being brought to the place, the grehound ſeming to reioice at the greatnes of the beaſt, rouſed him, and after two or three queſtynges, he lept to the great Olyphante, and after a longe fight ouerthrew hym and kylled hym. So I doubt not but that ſome men […] whiche beeyng ones called to aucthoritee, ioygned with libertee, will inforce theim ſelfes to make theyr miniſtracions noble and excellent.
- (figurative) Anything huge and ponderous.
- (paper, printing) Synonym of elephant paper.
- (UK, 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.
Alternative forms
[edit]Synonyms
[edit]- (counting term): see Appendix:Words used as placeholders to count seconds
Hyponyms
[edit]order Proboscidea
- African bush elephant, African forest elephant, forest elephant, savanna elephant, savannah elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
- African elephant (Loxodonta spp.)
- African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana)
- Asian elephant, Asiatic elephant, Indian elephant (Elephas maximus)
- Borneo elephant, pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis)
- dwarf elephant (†Proboscidea)
- imperial elephant (Mammuthus columbi)
- North African elephant (†Loxodonta africana pharaoensis)
- Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus)
- straight-tusked elephant (†Palaeoloxodon antiquus)
- Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus)
Derived terms
[edit]- baby elephant in the room
- bull elephant
- cow elephant
- double 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 spp.)
- elephant bug (Curculionoidea spp.)
- elephant bush (Portulacaria afra)
- elephant calf
- elephant chess
- elephant-color, elephant-colour
- elephant cord
- elephant creeper (Argyreia nervosa)
- elephantdom
- elephant door
- elephant dose
- elephant ear, elephant ears
- elephant ear tree (Enterolobium cyclocarpum)
- 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 (Enterolobium cyclocarpum
- 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 spp.)
- elephant skin
- elephant snout (Mormyrus hasselquistii)
- elephant's snout volute (Cymbium glans)
- 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 T. 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 A. paeoniifolius)
- Flying Elephant
- get a look at the elephant
- he-elephant
- imperial elephant
- irrelephant
- mammophant
- mimophant
- Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant
- Order of the Elephant
- pad elephant
- pink elephant
- pseudelephant
- retail elephant
- rogue elephant
- Sea Elephant
- sea-elephant, sea elephant (Mirounga spp.)
- see the elephant
- she-elephant
- shoot an elephant with a BB gun
- show the elephant
- temple elephant
- war elephant
- water elephant
- were-elephant
- white elephant
Related terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]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