Meanings
plural olifants
- historicalAn ancient hunting horn, made of ivory.
And he sang them the staves of the Olifant, the magic horn,—how Roland would not sound it in his pride, and sounded it at Turpin’s bidding, but too late[.]
1866, Charles Kingsley, chapter 35, in Hereward the Wake, London: Nelson, page 479 - obsoleteAn elephant.
She [Diana] hath ſent (to plague vs) a huge ſauadge Boare, / Of an vn-meaſured height and magnitude. / […] / His briſtles poynted like a range of pikes / Ranck't on his backe: his foame ſnovves vvhere he feeds / His tuskes are like the Indian Oliphants.
1613, Thomas Heywood, The Brazen Age, […], London: […] Nicholas Okes, […], →OCLC, Act II, signature [C4], verso
Origin
- Latinelephantus
- Old Frencholiphaunt
- Middle Englisholifaunt
- Englisholifant
From Middle English olifaunt, from Old French oliphaunt, from Latin elephantus. See elephant.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan olifant
- olifanttype of horn
Finnish olifantti
- olifanttitype of horn
French olifant
- olifanttype of horn
Polish olifant
- olifanttype of horn
Portuguese olifante
- olifantetype of horn
Spanish olifante
- olifantetype of horn
Vietnamese tù và
- tù vàtype of horn
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
olifant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/olifant
“olifant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/olifant. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “olifant,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/olifant.
Source: olifant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.