Definitions for Elephant
ˈɛl ə fəntele·phant

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:2.0 / 2 votes

1. elephantnoun

   five-toed pachyderm

2. elephantnoun

   the symbol of the Republican Party; introduced in cartoons by Thomas Nast in 1874

WiktionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. elephantnoun

   A mammal of the order Proboscidea, having a trunk, and two large ivory tusks jutting from the upper jaw.

2. elephantnoun

   Anything huge and ponderous.

3. elephantnoun

   A printing-paper size measuring 30 inches x 22 inches.

4. elephantnoun

   used when counting to add length.

   Let's play hide and seek. I'll count. One elephant, two elephant, three elephant...

5. Etymology: elefant, elefaunt, from elephant, learned borrowing from elephantus, from ἐλέφας (gen. ἐλέφαντος), compound of Berber ‘elephant’ (compare Tamahaq (Tahaggart) êlu, (Ghat) alu) and
   334B
   30C0
   3171
   331F (ābu) ‘elephant; ivory’. More at ivory. Replaced Middle English olifant, which replaced Old English elpend, olfend.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Elephantnoun

   The largest of all quadrupeds, of whose sagacity, faithfulness, prudence, and even understanding, many surprising relations are given. This animal is not carnivorous, but feeds on hay, herbs, and all sorts of pulse; and it is said to be extremely long lifed. It is naturally very gentle; but when enraged, no creature is more terrible. He is supplied with a trunk, or long hollow cartilage, like a large trumpet, which hangs between his teeth, and serves him for hands: by one blow with his trunk he will kill a camel or a horse, and will raise a prodigious weight with it. His teeth are the ivory so well known in Europe, some of which have been seen as large as a man’s thigh, and a fathom in length. Wild elephants are taken with the help of a female ready for the male: she is confined to a narrow place, round which pits are dug; and these being covered with a little earth scattered over hurdles, the male elephants easily fall into the snare. In copulation the female receives the male lying upon her back; and such is his pudicity, that he never covers the female so long as any one appears in sight. Augustin Calmet

   Etymology: elephas, Latin.

   He loves to hear,
   That unicorns may be betray’d with trees,
   And bears with glasses, elephants with holes. William Shakespeare, Jul. Cæs.

   The elephant hath joints, but not for courtesy;
   His legs are for necessity, not flexure. William Shakespeare, Troil. and Cressida.

   2. Ivory; the teeth of elephants.

   High o’er the gate, in elephant and gold,
   The crowd shall Cæsar’s Indian war behold. John Dryden, Virg.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Elephant

   Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. The order was formerly much more diverse during the Pleistocene, but most species became extinct during the Late Pleistocene epoch. Distinctive features of elephants include a long proboscis called a trunk, tusks, large ear flaps, pillar-like legs, and tough but sensitive skin. The trunk is used for breathing and is prehensile, bringing food and water to the mouth, and grasping objects. Tusks, which are derived from the incisor teeth, serve both as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. The large ear flaps assist in maintaining a constant body temperature as well as in communication. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears, and convex or level backs. Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia and are found in different habitats, including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They are herbivorous, and they stay near water when it is accessible. They are considered to be keystone species, due to their impact on their environments. Elephants have a fission–fusion society, in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females (cows) tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups, which do not include bulls, are usually led by the oldest cow, known as the matriarch. Males (bulls) leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate. They enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance over other males as well as reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness, and appear to show empathy for dying and dead family members. African bush elephants and Asian elephants are listed as endangered and African forest elephants as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). One of the biggest threats to elephant populations is the ivory trade, as the animals are poached for their ivory tusks. Other threats to wild elephants include habitat destruction and conflicts with local people. Elephants are used as working animals in Asia. In the past, they were used in war; today, they are often controversially put on display in zoos, or exploited for entertainment in circuses. Elephants are highly recognisable and have been featured in art, folklore, religion, literature, and popular culture.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. elephant

   An elephant is a large, herbivorous mammal that belongs to the family Elephantidae and order Proboscidea. They are recognized for their long trunks, large ears, tusks made of ivory, and thick, grey skin. Elephants are the largest land animals currently living. There are three species: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant, and the Asian Elephant. They are known for their high level of intelligence and complex social structures, skills for using tools, and exhibits behaviors such as grieving for their dead.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:3.0 / 1 vote

1. Elephantnoun

   a mammal of the order Proboscidia, of which two living species, Elephas Indicus and E. Africanus, and several fossil species, are known. They have a proboscis or trunk, and two large ivory tusks proceeding from the extremity of the upper jaw, and curving upwards. The molar teeth are large and have transverse folds. Elephants are the largest land animals now existing

2. Elephantnoun

   ivory; the tusk of the elephant

3. Etymology: [OE. elefaunt, olifant, OF. olifant, F. lphant, L. elephantus, elephas, -antis, fr. Gr. 'ele`fas, 'ele`fantos; of unknown origin; perh. fr. Skr. ibha, with the Semitic article al, el, prefixed, or fr. Semitic Aleph hindi Indian bull; or cf. Goth. ulbandus camel, AS. olfend.]

WikidataRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Elephant

   Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Traditionally, two species are recognised, the African elephant and the Asian elephant, although some evidence suggests that African bush elephants and African forest elephants are separate species. Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. They are the only surviving proboscideans; extinct species include mammoths and mastodons. The largest living terrestrial animals, male African elephants can reach a height of 4 m and weigh 7,000 kg. These animals have several distinctive features, including a long proboscis or trunk used for many purposes, particularly for grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which serve as tools for moving objects and digging and as weapons for fighting. The elephant's large ear flaps help to control the temperature of its body. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs. Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance, and predators such as lions, tigers, hyenas and wild dogs usually target only the young elephants. Females tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The latter are led by the oldest cow, known as the matriarch. Elephants have a fission-fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Males leave their family groups when they reach puberty, and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathy for dying or dead individuals of their kind.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Elephant

   el′e-fant, n. the largest quadruped, having a very thick skin, a trunk, and two ivory tusks: a special size of paper.—ns. Elephan′tiac, one affected with elephantiasis; Elephantī′asis, a disease chiefly of tropical climates, consisting of an overgrowth of the skin and connective tissue of the parts affected, with occasional attacks of inflammation resembling erysipelas.—adjs. Elephant′ine, pertaining to an elephant: like an elephant: very large or ungainly; Elephant′oid, elephant-like.—ns. El′ephant-seal, the largest of the seals, the male measuring about 20 feet in length; El′ephant's-foot, a plant of which the root-stock forms a large fleshy mass resembling an elephant's foot, used as food by the Hottentots; El′ephant-shrew, name applied to a number of long-nosed, long-legged Insectivora, natives of Africa, and notable for their agile jumping over loose sand.—A white elephant, a gift which occasions the recipient more trouble than it is worth—a white elephant being a common gift of the kings of Siam to a courtier they wished to ruin. [M. E. olifaunt—O. Fr. olifant—L. elephantum, elephas, -antis—Gr. elephas, acc. to some from Heb. eleph, aleph, an ox.]

The Nuttall EncyclopediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Elephant

   a genus of mammals, of which there are two species, the Indian and the African; the latter attains a greater size, and is hunted for the sake of its tusks, which may weigh as much as 70 lbs.; the former is more intelligent, and easily capable of being domesticated; the white elephant is a variety of this species.

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. elephant

   See Pack and Draught Animals.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. elephant

   A type of animal.

   In some countries the elephants together to mate and live.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on April 12, 2016  

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. elephant

   The elephant symbol -- In this Symbols.com article you will learn about the meaning of the elephant symbol and its characteristic.

2. elephant

   Song lyrics by elephant -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by elephant on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Emblem
   • Pachyderm
   • Proboscidean

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Elephant' in Nouns Frequency: #2347

How to pronounce Elephant?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Elephant in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Elephant in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Elephant in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of Elephant in a Sentence

1. Sam Wasser:

   We can now tell from a DNA sample where an elephant sample came from, from anywhere in Africa, within 180 miles of its origin.

2. Andreas Knieriem:

   We knew of course that there was an elephant birth coming up. But as it is often the case, if the birth happens a bit earlier than expected, nobody expects it....

3. Thomas Stocker:

   The elephant in the room is what we can do to change the trend in emissions.

4. Mark Russell:

   That is the elephant in the room, the 100 pages of charges are against Trevor personally, and nothing said by anyone else at the company was mentioned at the indictment.

5. Theo Bronkhorst:

   Absolute nonsense, the animal was already on an elephant carcass. We didn't even have to lure him, he was there. He was already on an elephant carcass that was lying there.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=Elephant
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Elephant
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=Elephant
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Elephant
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=Elephant
8. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=Elephant
9. ^ The Nuttall Encyclopedia
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12342/pg12342-images.html#Elephant
10. ^ Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
    https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/59563/pg59563-images.html