Meanings
elephant1
plural elephants · alternative obsolete oliphant · alternative obsolete olyphant
- countableuncountableA large mammal of the family Elephantidae in the order Proboscidea, having a trunk, and native to Africa and Asia.
1 more example
[A] puiſſant olyphant being brought to the place, the grehound ſeming to reioice at the greatnes of the beaſt, rouſed him, and after two or three queſtynges, he lept to the great Olyphante, and after a longe fight ouerthrew hym and kylled hym. So I doubt not but that ſome men […] whiche beeyng ones called to aucthoritee, ioygned with libertee, will inforce theim ſelfes to make theyr miniſtracions noble and excellent.
1541, Thomas Elyote [i.e., Thomas Elyot], “The Preface. To All the Nobilitee of this Flourishyng Realme of England, Thomas Elyote Knight Desyreth Increase of Vertue and Honour.”, in [Aelius Lampridius], translated by Thomas Elyote, The Image of Gouernaunce Complied of the Actes and Sentences Notable, of the Most Noble Emperour Alexander Seuerus, […], [London]: […] Thomas Berthelett, published 1549, →OCLCSynonyms: elephantid
- UKchildishcountableuncountableused 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...
- obsoleteuncountableIvory.
He sent rich gifts of elephant and gold.
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 - countableuncountableboard gamesA xiangqi piece that is moved two points diagonally, may not jump over intervening pieces and may not cross the river.
Elephant2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA large mammal of the family Elephantidae in the order Proboscidea, having a trunk, and native to Africa and Asia.
nounSynonym of elephant paper.
Origin
- Egyptianꜣbw“elephant; ivory”
- Proto-Berber*eḷu“elephant”
- Ancient Greekἐλέφᾱς
- Latinelephantus
- Old Frenchelefant
- Middle Englishelefant
- Englishelephant
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”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans olifant
- olifantmammal
Ancient Greek ἐλέφας
- ἐλέφας (eléphas)mammal
Arabic فِيل, فيل
- فِيل (fīl)mammal
- فيل (fīl)mammal
- سورة الفيل105th sura of the Qur'an
Basque elefante
- elefantemammal
Bengali হাতি
- হাতি (hati)mammal
Bulgarian слон
- слон (slon)mammal
Catalan elefant
- elefantmammal
Chinese щён, 象
- щён (xion)mammal
- 象 (chhiūⁿ / chhiǔⁿ / chhiōⁿ / chhiāuⁿ / siōng / sióng / siǒng / chhiāng)mammal
Chinese Cantonese 象, 大象
- 象 (zoeng⁶)mammal
- 大象 (daai⁶ zoeng⁶)mammal
- 大笨象 (daai⁶ ban⁶ zoeng⁶)mammal
Chinese Mandarin 象, 大象
- 象 (xiàng)mammal
- 大象 (dàxiàng)mammal
Czech slon, slonice
- slonmammal
- slonicemammal
Danish elefant, Elefanten
- elefantmammal
- Elefanten105th sura of the Qur'an
Dari فِیل, پِیل
- فِیل (fīl)mammal
- پِیل (pīl)mammal
Dutch olifant, elpendier
- olifantmammal
- elpendiermammal
- elpmammal
Esperanto elefanto
- elefantomammal
Estonian elevant
- elevantmammal
Finnish norsu, elefantti
- norsumammal
- elefanttimammal
- mammuttianything huge and ponderous
French éléphant, éléphante
- éléphantmammal
- éléphantemammal
- éléphanteaumammal
- éléphantellemammal
- éléphantesqueanything huge and ponderous
German Elefant, Elefantenbulle
- Elefantmammal
- Elefantenbullemammal
- Elefantinmammal
- Elefantenkuhmammal
- Elefantenkalbmammal
- Elifantmammal
Greek ελέφαντας
- ελέφαντας (eléfantas)mammal
Hawaiian ʻelepani
- ʻelepanimammal
Hebrew פִּיל
- פִּיל (pil)mammal
Hindi हाथी, हस्ती
- हाथी (hāthī)mammal
- हस्ती (hastī)mammal
- गज (gaj)mammal
- पील (pīl)mammal
Hungarian elefánt
- elefántmammal
Icelandic fíll
- fíllmammal
Indonesian gajah
- gajahmammal
Iranian Persian فیل, پیل
- فیل (fil)mammal
- پیل (pil)mammal
- کنجر (kenjar)mammal
Irish eilifint
- eilifintmammal
Italian elefante
- elefantemammal
Japanese 象, ゾウ
- 象 (zou)mammal
- ゾウ (zou)mammal
- 象105th sura of the Qur'an
Korean 코끼리
- 코끼리 (kokkiri)mammal
Latin elephantus, elephas
- elephantusmammal
- elephasmammal
- barrusmammal
- Lūca bōsmammal
Latvian zilonis
- zilonismammal
Lithuanian dramblys
- dramblysmammal
Malay gajah, cewe untut
- gajahmammal
- cewe untutmammal
- birammammal
- limanmammal
Norwegian Bokmål elefant
- elefantmammal
Polish słoń, słonica
- słońmammal
- słonicamammal
- Słoń105th sura of the Qur'an
Portuguese elefante, elefanta
- elefantemammal
- elefantamammal
- aliámammal
- elefoamammal
- alifantemammal
Punjabi ਹਾਥੀ
- ਹਾਥੀ (hāthī)mammal
Romanian elefant
- elefantmammal
Russian слон, слони́ха
- слон (slon)mammal
- слони́ха (sloníxa)mammal
- Сло́н (Slón)105th sura of the Qur'an
Scottish Gaelic ailbhean
- ailbheanmammal
Slovak slon
- slonmammal
Spanish elefante, ssfgd
- elefantemammal
- ssfgd105th sura of the Qur'an
Swahili ndovu, tembo
- ndovumammal
- tembomammal
- kubwaanything huge and ponderous
- Tembo105th sura of the Qur'an
Swedish elefant, Elefanten
- elefantmammal
- Elefanten105th sura of the Qur'an
Tagalog elepante, gadya
- elepantemammal
- gadyamammal
Tamil யானை
- யானை (yāṉai)mammal
Thai ช้าง, คชสาร
- ช้าง (cháang)mammal
- คชสาร (kót-chá-sǎan)mammal
Turkish fil
- filmammal
Ukrainian слон, слони́ха
- слон (slon)mammal
- слони́ха (slonýxa)mammal
- слонь (slonʹ)mammal
Urdu ہاتھی, ہَسْتی
- ہاتھی (hāthī)mammal
- ہَسْتی (hastī)mammal
- گَج (gaj)mammal
- فِیل (fīl)mammal
- پِیل (pīl)mammal
Vietnamese voi
- voimammal
Welsh eliffant, cawrfil
- eliffantmammal
- cawrfilmammal
Yiddish העלפֿאַנד
- העלפֿאַנד (helfand)mammal
Zulu indlovu
- indlovumammal
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
elephant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elephant
“elephant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elephant. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “elephant,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elephant.
Source: elephant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.