# слон
## Belarusian
### Alternative forms

* słon — Łacinka (Belarusian Latin alphabet)

### Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it is related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [sɫon]
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

слон • (slon) m animal (genitive слана́, nominative plural сланы́, genitive plural слано́ў)
* elephant
* (chess) bishop

#### Declension

$^1$Used with the numbers 2, 3, 4 and higher numbers after 20 ending in 2, 3, and 4.

### See also

Chess pieces in Belarusian · ша́хматныя фігу́ры (šáxmatnyja fihúry) (layout · text) :
| каро́ль (karólʹ) | ферзь (fjerzʹ) | ладдзя́ (laddzjá) | слон (slon) | конь (konʹ) | пе́шка (pjéška) |

## Bulgarian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [sɫɔn]
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɔn

### Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it is related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

#### Noun

слон • (slon) m (feminine слони́ца)
* elephant (usually a male one)
    Synonym: (obsolete) фил (fil)
    като слон в стъкларски магазин (idiom) ― kato slon v stǎklarski magazin ― like a bull in a china shop (literally, “like an elephant in a chine shop”)
    от мухата прави слон (idiom) ― ot muhata pravi slon ― to make a mountain out of a molehill (literally, “to make an elephant out of a fly”)

##### Hyponyms

* евразийски слон (evrazijski slon, “gen. Elephas”) (literally: Eurasian elephant)
* африкански слон (afrikanski slon, “gen. Loxodonta”) (literally: African elephant)
* маму́т (mamút, “mammoth”)

##### Derived terms

* (augmentative) сло́нище (slónište)
* (diminutive) сло́нче (slónče)
* сло́нов (slónov)

#### References

* “слон”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2014
* “слон”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Chitanka, 2010
* Nayden Gerov, Тодор Панчев (1904) “слонъ (2)”, in Рѣчникъ на Блъгарскꙑй язꙑкъ. Съ тлъкувание рѣчи-тꙑ на Блъгарскꙑ и на Русскꙑ. [Dictionary of the Bulgarian language]‎ (in Bulgarian), volume 5, Plovdiv: Дружествена печꙗтница "Съгласие.", page 193
* Todorov, T. A., Racheva, M., editors (2010), “слон²”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 7 (слòво – теря̀свам), Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 113

### Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *slonъ (“offset”).

#### Noun

слон • (slon) m (dialectal)
* shelter, offset (used for protection)
    Synonyms: стря́ха (strjáha), на́вес (náves)
* pen, sheepfold
    Synonyms: коша́ра (košára), коте́ц (kotéc)

##### Declension

This entry needs an inflection-table template.

##### Derived terms

* засло́н (zaslón)
* насло́н (naslón)
* подсло́н (podslón)
* присло́н (prislón)

#### References

* Nayden Gerov, Тодор Панчев (1904) “слонъ (1)”, in Рѣчникъ на Блъгарскꙑй язꙑкъ. Съ тлъкувание рѣчи-тꙑ на Блъгарскꙑ и на Русскꙑ. [Dictionary of the Bulgarian language]‎ (in Bulgarian), volume 5, Plovdiv: Дружествена печꙗтница "Съгласие.", page 193
* Todorov, T. A., Racheva, M., editors (2010), “слон¹”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 7 (слòво – теря̀свам), Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 112

## Macedonian
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it is related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [sɫɔn]
* Rhymes: -ɔn

### Noun

слон • (slon) m (plural слонови, feminine слоница, relational adjective слонов, diminutive слонче, augmentative слониште)
* elephant

#### Declension
## Russian
### Alternative forms

* слонъ (slon) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)

### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it is related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).
Vovin (2011) proposes that Slavic slonъ reflects Old Chinese 象 (*ljaŋʔ /⁠*slaŋ⁠/, “elephant”), an etymology previously suggested by Ivanov (1977: 156–57) albeit with an incorrect Old Chinese reconstruction *sðaŋ. As Vovin notes, contact between Slavic and Old Chinese is out of the question, so the solution might arise from an intermediary source. Ivanov (1977:154) believes that the Chuvash forms слон (slon), сӑлан (sălan, “elephant”) are Russian loans, with the latter being called into question by Vovin on phonetic grounds. According to him, Russian /o/ (phonetically a diphthong [uo] with a mid-high syllabic element [o]) is unlikely to be borrowed as Chuvash low vowel /a/. The reverse, namely the borrowing of Bulgar slightly labialised /a/ as Slavic /o/ is more than likely. Chuvash сӑлан (sălan, “elephant”) is exactly the expected outcome of the Old Chinese *slaŋ with the insertion of ⟨ă⟩ breaking the OC initial cluster /sl-/ and typical Bulgar shift of Proto-Turkic *ŋ to /n/. The presence of this word in Chuvash places proto-Bulgar speakers in the vicinity of Northern China no later than first century BCE, because approximately after that date the initial clusters in Old Chinese underwent the process of simplification.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [sɫon]
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

слон • (slon) m anim (genitive слона́, nominative plural слоны́, genitive plural слоно́в, feminine слони́ха, relational adjective слоно́вый or слоно́вий, diminutive сло́ник, augmentative слони́ще or слоня́ра)
* elephant
* (chess) bishop
* (colloquial, usually about children) one who walks loudly or heavily; stomper

#### Abbreviations

* (chess piece): С (S)

#### Synonyms

* (chess piece): офице́р (oficér) (informal)

#### Derived terms

* слонёнок m anim (slonjónok)
* слони́ха f anim (sloníxa)
* слоно́вник (slonóvnik)
* слонопота́м m anim (slonopotám)
* де́лать из му́хи слона́ (délatʹ iz múxi sloná)
* слон в посу́дной ла́вке m anim (slon v posúdnoj lávke)
* как слону́ дроби́на (kak slonú drobína)

#### Descendants

* → Ingrian: slona
* → Kildin Sami: слонн (slonn)
* → Komi-Zyrian: слӧн (slön)

#### See also

* морско́й слон (morskój slon)
* СЛОН (SLON)
Chess pieces in Russian · ша́хматные фигу́ры (šáxmatnyje figúry) (layout · text) :
| коро́ль (korólʹ) | ферзь (ferzʹ) | ладья́ (ladʹjá) | слон (slon) | конь (konʹ) | пе́шка (péška) |

### References

* ↑ Vasmer 1955: 663.
* ↑ Stachowski 2005: 447.
* ↑ Vovin, Alexander (2011) First and second person singular pronouns: a pillar or a pillory of the ‘Altaic’ hypothesis?‎, pages 271–272

## Serbo-Croatian
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it's related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /slôn/

### Noun

сло̏н m (Latin spelling slȍn)
* elephant

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “слон”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

## Ukrainian
### Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it's related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [sɫɔn]
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

слон • (slon) m animal (genitive слона́, nominative plural слони́, genitive plural слоні́в, feminine слони́ха, relational adjective слоно́вий or слоня́чий, diminutive слоне́ня or слоня́)
* elephant
    Synonyms: слін (slin), елефант (elefant)
* (chess) bishop

#### Declension
### See also

Chess pieces in Ukrainian · шахові фігури (šaxovi fihury) (layout · text) :
| король (korolʹ) | ферзь (ferzʹ) | тура (tura) | слон (slon) | кінь (kinʹ) | пішак (pišak) |

### References

* Bilodid, I. K., editor (1970–1980), “слон”, in Словник української мови: в 11 т. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language: in 11 vols] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka
* “слон”, in Горох – Словозміна [Horokh – Inflection] (in Ukrainian)