elephant

See also: Elephant, éléphant, and êléphant

English

Etymology

African elephant

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

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɛlɪf(ə)nt/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɛləfənt/
(Philippine) IPA^(key): /el.e.fant/
Audio (GA) (file)
Hyphenation: ele‧phant

Noun

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.
(in particular) Any member of the subfamily Elephantinae not also of the genera Mammuthus and Primelephas.
(figuratively) Anything huge and ponderous.
(paper, printing) Synonym of elephant paper
(Britain, 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 403869432:
  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

(animal): Elephas maximus, Loxodonta africana
(counting term): see Appendix:Words used as placeholders to count seconds

Hyponyms

(animal): African bush elephant, African forest elephant, Indian elephant, African elephant

Derived terms

African bush elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
African elephant (Loxodonta spp.)
African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
African savannah elephant
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus)
baby elephant in the room
Borneo elephant, Borneo pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis)
bull elephant
cow elephant
double elephant, double elephant paper
dwarf elephant
eat an elephant one bite at a time
Elephant and Castle
elephant apple
elephant bed
elephant beetle (Megasoma elephas, Curculionoidea spp.)
elephant bird, elephantbird (†Aepyornithidae)
elephant bug (Curculionoidea spp.)
elephant chess
elephant-color, elephant-colour
elephant cord
elephant creeper (Argyreia nervosa)
elephant dose
elephant ear, elephant ears
elephantess
elephant fish
elephant flipping
elephant folio
elephant foot (Beaucarnea recurvata)
elephant foot (Testudinaria elephantipes)
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)
elephanticide
elephantide
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
elephant louse (Haematomyzus elephantis)
Elephant Man
elephant man's disease
elephant man's syndrome
elephant on the dinner table
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 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
elephant test
elephant thorn (Acacia tomentosa)
elephant toothpaste
elephant tortoise (Testudo gigantea or Testudo elaphantopus)
elephant trank
elephant tranquilizer, elephant tranquilliser, elephant tranquillizer
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
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)
Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant
North African elephant
Order of the Elephant
pad elephant
pink elephant
pink elephants
pseudelephant
pygmy elephant
retail elephant
rogue elephant
savanna elephant, savannah elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
sea elephant (Mirounga)
see the elephant
she-elephant
show the elephant
southern elephant seal
Sri Lankan elephant
straight-tusked elephant
Sumatran elephant
temple elephant
war elephant
water elephant
were-elephant
white elephant
white elephant sale

Related terms

chryselephantine
elephancy
elephanta
elephanter
elephantiac
elephantiasis
elephantic
Elephantidae
elephantine
elephantoid
Elephantopus
Elephas

Descendants

→ Hawaiian: ʻelepani
→ Maori: arewhana
→ Tokelauan: elefane
→ Tongan: ʻelefanite
→ Welsh: eliffant

Translations

mammal

Abkhaz: аслан (aslan)
Acehnese: gajah
Afar: dakanu
Afrikaans: olifant (af)
Ahom: 𑜋𑜂𑜫 (chaṅ)
Albanian: elefant (sq)
Amharic: ዝሆን (zəhon)
Amis: eco
Arabic: فِيل‎ (ar) m (fīl)
Egyptian Arabic: فيل‎ m (fīl)
Aragonese: alifante m
Aramaic:
Hebrew: פילא‎ m (pīlā’), פילתא‎ f (pīltā’)
Syriac: ܦܝܠܐ‎ m (pīlā’), ܦܝܠܬܐ‎ f (pīltā’)
Armenian: փիղ (hy) (pʿił)
Assamese: হাতী (hati)
Asturian: elefante (ast) m
Ateso: etome
Avar: пил (pil)
Azerbaijani: fil (az)
Banjarese: gajah
Bashkir: фил (fil)
Basque: elefante (eu)
Batek: gawoy, gagok
Bau Bidayuh: gajah
Belarusian: слон m (slon), слані́ха f (slaníxa)
Bengali: হাতি (bn) (hati)
Bezhta: пил (pil)
Bikol Central: gadya (bcl)
Blackfoot: innóóhksisii
Breton: olifant (br) m
Bulgarian: слон (bg) m (slon)
Burmese: ဆင် (my) (hcang)
Buryat: заан (zaan)
Catalan: elefant (ca) m
Old Catalan: orifany m, aurifany m, olifany m
Central Melanau: gajah
Cerma: gbɛ̃lŋo
Chakma: please add this translation if you can
Chechen: пийл (piil)
Cheq Wong: itung
Cherokee: ᎧᎹᎹ (kamama), ᎧᎹᎹ ᎤᏔᎾ (kamama utana)
Cheyenne: tsėhe'ėseeséhe
Chichewa: njovu
Chinese:
Cantonese: 象 (zoeng⁶), 大象 (daai⁶ zoeng⁶), 大笨象 (daai⁶ ban⁶ zoeng⁶)
Dungan: щён (xi͡on)
Gan: 象 (xiong⁵)
Hakka: 象 (siong)
Jin: 象 (xion³)
Mandarin: 象 (zh) (xiàng), 大象 (zh) (dàxiàng)
Min Bei: 象 (siōng)
Min Dong: 象 (chiông)
Min Nan: 象 (zh-min-nan) (chhiūⁿ / chhiǔⁿ / chhiōⁿ / chhiāuⁿ / siōng / sióng / siǒng / chhiāng)
Wu: 象 (xxian)
Xiang: 象 (xion³)
Chol: elefanti
Chukchi: эʼԓыпын (ėʼḷypyn)
Chuvash: слон (slon)
Classical Nahuatl: elepantli
Cornish: olifans m
Crimean Tatar: fil
Czech: slon (cs) m, slonice (cs) f
Dagbani: wobgu, wɔbigu
Danish: elefant (da) c
Dhivehi: އެތް‎ (et̊)
Dinka: akoon
Dutch: olifant (nl) m, elpendier n, elp m
Egyptian:

(ꜣbw)
Ekpeye: enyî
Esperanto: elefanto (eo)
Estonian: elevant (et)
Faroese: fílur (fo) m
Fijian: elefani
Finnish: norsu (fi), elefantti (fi)
French: éléphant (fr) m, éléphante (fr) f, éléphanteau (fr) m, (rare) éléphantelle (fr) f
Middle French: elephant m
Old French: olifan m
Friulian: elefant m
Gagauz: fillär, fil
Galician: elefante (gl) m
Georgian: სპილო (sṗilo)
German: Elefant (de) m, Elefantenbulle (de) m, Elefantin (de) f, Elefantenkuh (de) f, Elefantenkalb (de) n
Alemannic German: Elifant m
Greek: ελέφαντας (el) m (eléfantas)
Ancient: ἐλέφας (eléphas)
Greenlandic: nagguaatsoq
Guaraní: tapi'itĩmbuku
Gujarati: હાથી (gu) m (hāthī)
Gwere: nzogi
Hausa: giwa f
Hawaiian: ʻelepani
Hebrew: פִּיל‎ (he) m (pil)
Hindi: हाथी (hi) m (hāthī), हस्ती (hi) m (hastī), गज (hi) m (gaj), फ़ील m (fīl), पील (hi) m (pīl), फील (hi) m (phīl)
Hungarian: elefánt (hu)
Ibibio: eniin
Icelandic: fíll (is) m
Idahan: liman
Ido: elefanto (io)
Ilocano: gadia
Interlingua: elephante
Irish: eilifint f
Isan: ซ่าง
Italian: elefante (it) m
Jahai: antok
Japanese: 象 (ja) (ぞう, zou), ゾウ (ja) (zou)
Jarai: rơman
Jarawa: ʈʰehuːʈʰu
Javanese: ꦒꦗꦃ (gajah), ꦭꦶꦩꦤ꧀ (liman) (krama), ꦢ꧀ꦮꦶꦥꦁꦒ (dwipangga), ꦢ꧀ꦮꦶꦫꦢ (dwirada), ꦧ꧀ꦭꦼꦢꦸꦒ꧀ (jv) (bledug) (young)
Jingpho: magwi (spelling in Myanmar), magui (spelling in China)
Kadazan: godingon, godingan
Kalenjin: ebelio
Kalmyk: зан (zan)
Kamba: nzou
Kambaata: danichcho
Kannada: ಆನೆ (kn) (āne), ಗಜ (kn) (gaja)
Karang: mbali
Kashmiri: ہۆس‎ (ks) m (hos), ہۆست‎ (ks) m (host), ۂسؠ تِنؠ‎ (ks) f (hạs'tin')
Kashubian: słóń m
Kazakh: піл (kk) (pıl)
Kenaboi: gĕntúl, bĕrat
Khasi: hati
Khmer: ដំរី (km) (dɑmrəy)
Khoekhoe: ǂkhoab
Kikuyu: njogu class 9/10
Komi-Permyak: слӧн (slön)
Kongo: nzau, nzau
Korean: 코끼리 (ko) (kokkiri)
Kristang: alfanti
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: فیل‎ (ku) (fîl)
Northern Kurdish: fîl (ku)
Kwama: kwɨ
Kyrgyz: пил (ky) (pil)
Ladin: elefant
Ladino: איליפ׳אנטי‎ (elefante)
Lao: ຊ້າງ (lo) (sāng)
Latin: elephantus (la), elephas (la), barrus m, Lūca bōs m or f
Latvian: zilonis (lv) m
Lezgi: фил (fil)
Lingala: nzɔku
Lithuanian: dramblys (lt) m
Luhya: enjofu
Lü: ᦋᦱᧂᧉ (tsaang²)
Maasai: olkanchaoi m, olenkaina m, oltome m
Macedonian: слон m (slon)
Madurese: ꦓꦙ (ghajha)
Mah Meri: mberat
Malagasy: elefanta (mg)
Malay: gajah (ms), cewe untut, biram (ms), liman
Brunei Malay: gajah
Indonesian: gajah (id)
Malayalam: ആന (ml) (āna)
Maltese: iljunfant
Manchu: ᠰᡠᡶᠠᠨ (sufan)
Mandinka: samoo
Marathi: हत्ती m (hattī)
Mezquital Otomi: elefante
Mirandese: eilefante m
Moksha: слан (slan)
Mon: စိၚ် (mnw)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: заан (mn) (zaan)
Mongolian: ᠵᠠᠭᠠᠨ (ǰaɣan)
Mukulu: 'elbi
Murut: gadingan, mangumbus togup
Mwani: nembo
Nahuatl: elefante (nah)
Navajo: bíchį́į́h yee adilohii
Nepali: हात्ती (ne) m (hāttī)
Newar: किसी (kisī)
Ngazidja Comorian: nɗovu class 9/10
Nkonya: srʋfɔ
Norman: êléphant m
Northern Sami: elefánta
Northern Thai: ᨩ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨦ (cang), ᨩ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨦ
Norwegian: elefant (no) m
Nuer: guɔr
Nupe: dagba
Occitan: elefant (oc) m
Ojibwe: jejiibajikii
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: слонь m (slonĭ)
Old East Slavic: слонъ m (slonŭ)
Old English: elpend m
Old Norse: fíll m
Oriya: ହାତୀ (hati)
Oromo: arbaa
Ossetian: пыл (pyl)
Ottoman Turkish: فیل‎‎ (fil)
Pali: hatthin m, nāga m, gaja m
Pashto: پيل‎ (ps) m (pil)
Persian: فیل‎ (fa) (fil), پیل‎ (fa) (pil)
Middle Persian: pyl (pīl)
Polish: słoń (pl) m anim, słonica (pl) f
Portuguese: elefante (pt) m, elefanta (pt) f, aliá (pt) f, elefoa (pt) f, alifante (pt) m
Punjabi: ਹਾਥੀ m (hāthī)
Rade: êman
Rajasthani: गयंद m (gayãnd)
Rohingya: háñti
Romani: woroslano m, woroslanka f, elefànto m
Romanian: elefant (ro) m
Romansch: elefant
Russian: слон (ru) m (slon), слони́ха (ru) f (sloníxa)
Rusyn: слон m (slon)
Rwanda-Rundi: inzovu
Saek: ซาง
Saho: dakano
Samoan: 'elefane
Sanskrit: गज (sa) m (gaja), इभ (sa) m (ibha), हस्तिन् (sa) m (hastin), नाग (sa) m (nāga), वारण (sa) m (vāraṇá) (poetic)
Santali: ᱦᱟᱹᱛᱤ (hăti)
Sardinian: elefante ?, elefanti ?
Scottish Gaelic: ailbhean m
Semai: cig
Semelai: kĕgdo, pemalen, pemaleng
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: сло̏н m, сло̀ница f, фил m (regional)
Roman: slȍn (sh) m, slònica (sh) f, fil (sh) m (regional)
Shan: ၸၢင်ႉ (shn) (tsâ̰ang)
Sherpa: གླང་པུ (glang pu)
Shona: nzou
Sicilian: liotru (scn) m, lifanti m
Sidamo: dano
Sindhi: ہاٿيِ‎ (hāthī)
Sinhalese: අලියා (aliyā)
Slovak: slon (sk) m
Slovene: slon (sl) m, slonica (sl) f
Somali: maroodi
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: elefant m, słon m (literary)
Upper Sorbian: elefant (hsb) m, słon m
Sotho: tlou (st)
Spanish: elefante (es) m
Old Spanish: alefant m, eleofant m, elifant m
Sranan Tongo: asaw
Sundanese: ᮌᮏᮂ (gajah)
Supyire: ńtàsùù
Swahili: ndovu (sw), tembo (sw)
Swazi: indlovu
Swedish: elefant (sv)
Sylheti: ꠀꠔ꠆ꠔꠤ (atti)
Tagal Murut: godingan, godingan
Tagalog: elepante (tl), gadya (tl), ᜄᜇᜌ (garaya)
Tai Dam: ꪋ꫁ꪱꪉ
Tai Nüa: ᥓᥣᥒᥳ (tsȧang)
Tajik: фил (tg) (fil), пил (pil)
Tamil: யானை (ta) (yāṉai)
Tangale: labata
Tatar: фил (tt) (fil)
Tedaga: kumon
Telugu: ఏనుగు (te) (ēnugu), గజము (te) (gajamu)
Temiar: talam, alul, ateng, alĕĕp, alaay, atũd, orang besar, tangk'el (Ple-Temer)
Temoq: koleq
Thai: ช้าง (th) (cháang), คชสาร (th) (kót-chá-sǎan)
Tibetan: གླང་ཆེན (glang chen), གླང་པོ (glang po)
Tidung: gedingan
Tigrinya: ሓርማዝ (ti) (ḥarmaz)
Toba Batak: ᯎᯐ (gaja)
Tocharian B: onkolmo
Tswana: tlou class 9/10
Turka: gbĩɛ̃lw
Turkana: etom
Turkish: fil (tr)
Turkmen: pil
Udi: фил (fil)
Udmurt: слон (slon)
Uduk: jè
Ukrainian: слон (uk) m (slon), слони́ха f (slonýxa), слонь m (slonʹ) (archaic)
Urdu: ہاتھی‎ m (hāthī), ہستی‎ m (hastī), گج‎ m (gaj), فیل‎ m (fīl), پیل‎ m (pīl)
Uyghur: پىل‎ (pil)
Uzbek: fil (uz)
Venda: nḓou
Vietnamese: voi (vi)
Vilamovian: elefaont
Volapük: leefad (vo)
Welsh: eliffant (cy)
West Coast Bajau: datu', gaja
West Frisian: oaljefant c
White Hmong: ntxhw
Wolof: ñey wi, ñay (wo)
Xhosa: indlovu
Yagnobi: фил (fil)
Yakut: слон (slon)
Yaqui: elehaánte
Yiddish: העלפֿאַנד‎ m (helfand)
Yoruba: erin
Yucatec Maya: chowak jom, elefante
Zazaki: fil
Zhuang: duzciengh, ciengh
Zulu: indlovu (zu) class 9/10