elephant

UK /ˈɛlɪfənt/ · CA, US /ˈɛləfənt/

Etymology 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”).

Synonyms

elephantid, elephant, oliphaunt

Derived terms

155 terms

African bush elephant, African elephant, African forest elephant, African savannah elephant, Asian elephant, Asiatic elephant, baby elephant in the room, Borneo elephant, 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, elephant bird, elephantbird, elephant bug, elephant bush, elephant calf, elephant chess, elephant-color, elephant-colour, elephant cord, elephant creeper, elephantdom, elephant door, elephant dose, elephant ear, elephant ears, elephant ear tree, elephantesque, elephantess, elephantfish, elephant fish, elephant flipping, elephant folio, elephant foot, Elephant Gambit, elephant garlic, elephant grass, elephant-gravel, elephant-gray, elephant-grey, elephant gun, Elephant Hall, elephant hawk moth, 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, 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, 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, elephant's head, elephantship, elephant shrew, elephant skin, elephant snout, elephant's snout volute, elephant's teeth, elephant's tooth, elephant's toothpaste, elephant's trunk, elephant trunk, Elephant's Trunk Nebula, elephant's trunk plant, elephant's tusk, elephant's-tusks, elephant's-vine, elephant test, elephant thorn, elephant toothpaste, elephant tortoise, elephant trank, elephant tranquilizer, elephant trap, elephant tree, elephant-trumpet, elephant trunkfish, elephant trunk fish, Elephant Trunk nebula, elephant trunk snake, elephant-tusk, elephant walk, elephanty, elephant yam, Flying Elephant, forest elephant, get a look at the elephant, he-elephant, imperial elephant, Indian elephant, irrelephant, mammophant, mimophant, Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant, North African elephant, Order of the Elephant, pad elephant, pink elephant, pseudelephant, pygmy elephant, retail elephant, rogue elephant, savanna elephant, savannah elephant, Sea Elephant, sea-elephant, sea elephant, the elephant, she-elephant, shoot an elephant with a BB gun, show the elephant, Sri Lankan elephant, straight-tusked elephant, Sumatran elephant, temple elephant, war elephant, water elephant, were-elephant, white elephant

Related terms

chryselephantine, elephancy, elephanta, elephanter, elephantiac, elephantiasis, elephantic, Elephantidae, elephantine, elephantoid, Elephantopus, Elephas, howdah, keddah, mahout, trumpet, deinothere, stegodont

Hypernyms

mammal, vertebrate, animal, creature

Hyponyms

African bush elephant, African forest elephant, Indian elephant, African elephant, Asian elephant, mammoth, white elephant, bull, koomkie, tusker

Meronyms

trunk, tusk, ivory