oliphant

See also: Oliphant

English

Alternative forms

• olifant, olyfaunte, olyphant, oliphaunt

Etymology

From Middle English olifaunt, from Anglo-Norman oliphant (“ivory, elephant”) and Old French oliphant (“ivory, elephant, musical horn of ivory”), from Latin elephantus (“elephant”), from Ancient Greek ἐλέφας (eléphas, “ivory, elephant”).

Noun

oliphant (plural oliphants)

1. (archaic and historical) An elephant.
   • 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 ſnowes where he feeds
     His tuskes are like the Indian Oliphants.

2. An ancient ivory hunting-horn.

Old French

Noun

oliphant oblique singular, m (oblique plural oliphanz or oliphantz, nominative singular oliphanz or oliphantz, nominative plural oliphant)

1. alternative form of olifan