ἐλέφας

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἐλέφαις (eléphais) — Aeolic

Etymology

Unclear. Compare Hittite 𒆷𒄴𒉺𒀸 (laḫpaš, “ivory”).

Possibly related to Proto-Berber *eḷu, Egyptian ꜣbw

(reconstructed as /ˈʀuːbaw/) or Sanskrit इभ (íbha).

Cognate with Mycenaean Greek 𐀁𐀩𐀞 (e-re-pa).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /e.lé.pʰaːs/ → /eˈle.ɸas/ → /eˈle.fas/

• (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

1. elephant
2. (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 eléphantes
Genitive	τοῦ, τῆς ἐλέφᾰντος / ἐλεφᾰ́ντου toû, tês eléphantos / elephántou	τῶν ἐλεφᾰ́ντων tôn elephántōn
Dative	τῷ, τῇ ἐλέφᾰντῐ tôi, têi eléphanti	τοῖς, ταῖς ἐλέφᾱσῐ / ἐλέφᾱσῐν / ἐλεφᾰ́ντοις toîs, taîs eléphāsi / eléphāsin / elephántois
Accusative	τὸν, τὴν ἐλέφᾰντᾰ tòn, tḕn eléphanta	τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς ἐλέφᾰντᾰς toùs, tā̀s eléphantas
Vocative	ἐλέφᾰν eléphan	ἐλέφᾰντες eléphantes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• Ἐλεφαντίνη (Elephantínē)
• ἐλεφᾰντομᾰχῐ́ᾱ (elephantomakhíā)
• ἐλεφᾰντᾰ́ρχης (elephantárkhēs)

 

Descendants

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

Further reading

• “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 (2006–2024)
• 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
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) 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