Etymology

mammoth

M3A1M3M3O1T1H4

Today it means: Any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus, of large, usually hairy, elephant-like mammals with long curved tusks and an inclined back, which became extinct with the last retreat of ice age glaciers during the late Pleistocene period, and are known from fossils, frozen carcasses, and Paleolithic cave paintings found in North America and Eurasia. Full definition →

Russian ма́мант ← Uralic ← mns-pro *mān-oŋt
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The story

  1. mns-pro · derived from*mān-oŋt“earth horn”
  2. Uralic · derived from
  3. Russian · borrowed fromма́мант
  4. English todaymammoth

From obsolete Russian ма́мант (mámant), modern ма́монт (mámont), probably from a Uralic word, such as Proto-Mansi *mān-oŋt (“earth horn”). Possibly influenced by behemoth. Adjectival use was popularized in the early 1800s by references to the Cheshire Mammoth Cheese presented to American paleontologist and president Thomas Jefferson.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.