# elephant
## English
### Etymology

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”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈɛlɪf(ə)nt/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈɛləfənt/
* Audio (General American):(file)
* (Philippines) IPA: /el.e.fant/
* (Indic) IPA: /eliˈfænt/, /ˈelifant/
* Hyphenation: ele‧phant

### Noun

elephant (countable and uncountable, plural elephants)
* A mammal of the order Proboscidea, having a trunk, and two large ivory tusks jutting from the upper jaw.
** 1613, Thomas Heywood, The Brazen Age, […], London: […] Nicholas Okes, […], →OCLC, Act II, signature [C4], verso: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.
* (in particular) Any member of the subfamily Elephantinae not also of the genera Mammuthus and Primelephas.
* (figurative) Anything huge and ponderous.
* (paper, printing) Synonym of elephant paper
* (British, childish) used 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...
* (uncountable, obsolete) Ivory.
** 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:He sent rich gifts of elephant and gold.
* (xiangqi) A xiangqi piece that is moved two points diagonally, may not jump over intervening pieces and may not cross the river.

#### Synonyms

* (animal): Elephas maximus, Loxodonta africana
* (counting term): see Appendix:Words used as placeholders to count seconds

#### Hyponyms

* (animal): African bush elephant, African forest elephant, Indian elephant, African elephant

#### Derived terms

* African bush elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
* African elephant (Loxodonta spp.)
* African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
* African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana)
* Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
* Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus)
* baby elephant in the room
* Borneo elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis)
* bull elephant
* cow elephant
* double elephant
* dwarf elephant
* eat an elephant one bite at a time
* Elephant and Castle
* elephant apple
* elephantback
* elephant bed
* elephant beetle (Megasoma elephas, Curculionoidea spp.)
* elephant bird, elephantbird (†Aepyornithidae)
* elephant bug (Curculionoidea spp.)
* elephant bush
* elephant chess
* elephant-color, elephant-colour
* elephant cord
* elephant creeper (Argyreia nervosa)
* elephantdom
* elephant dose
* elephant ear, elephant ears
* elephant-ear tree
* elephantesque
* elephantess
* elephantfish, elephant fish
* elephant flipping
* elephant folio
* elephant foot (Beaucarnea recurvata, Testudinaria elephantipes etc)
* Elephant Gambit
* elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum)
* elephant grass
* elephant-gravel
* elephant-gray, elephant-grey
* elephant gun
* Elephant Hall
* elephant hawk moth (Deilephila elpenor)
* elephanthood
* elephanticide
* elephantid
* elephant in Cairo
* elephant in the corner
* elephant in the kitchen
* elephant in the living room
* elephant in the room
* Elephant Island
* elephantitis
* elephant joke
* elephant juice
* elephant leg
* elephantlike
* elephant louse (Haematomyzus elephantis)
* Elephant Man
* elephant man's disease
* elephant man's syndrome
* elephant on the dinner table
* elephantophile
* elephant paper
* elephant-path
* elephant pearl
* elephant polo
* elephant race
* elephant-rain
* elephantry
* elephant's breath
* elephant seal (Mirounga spp.)
* elephant's ear
* elephant's ear, elephant's ears
* Elephant's Foot
* elephant's foot
* elephant's foot umbrella stand
* elephant's-grass
* elephants' graveyard
* elephant shark (Callorhinchidae)
* elephant's head (Pedicularis groenlandica)
* elephantship
* elephant shrew (Macroscelididae)
* elephant skin
* elephant snout (Mormyrus hasselquistii)
* elephant's snout volute
* elephant's teeth
* elephant's tooth
* elephant's toothpaste
* elephant's trunk, elephant trunk (Pachypodium namaquanum or Agave attenuata)
* Elephant's Trunk Nebula
* elephant's trunk plant (Pachypodium namaquanum)
* elephant's tusk
* elephant's-tusks
* elephant's-vine (Fockea multiflora)
* elephant test
* elephant thorn (Acacia tomentosa)
* elephant toothpaste
* elephant tortoise (Testudo gigantea or Testudo elaphantopus)
* elephant trank
* elephant tranquilizer
* elephant trap
* elephant tree (Bursera microphylla)
* elephant-trumpet
* elephant trunkfish (Holothuria fuscopunctata)
* elephant trunk fish (Macrognathus aculeatus)
* Elephant Trunk nebula
* elephant trunk snake (Acrochordus javanicus)
* elephant-tusk (Proboscidea louisianica)
* elephant walk
* elephanty
* elephant yam (Amorphophallus konjac or Amorphophallus paeoniifolius)
* Flying Elephant
* forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
* get a look at the elephant
* he-elephant
* imperial elephant
* Indian elephant (Elephas maximus)
* irrelephant
* mammophant
* mimophant
* Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant
* North African elephant (†Loxodonta africana pharaoensis)
* Order of the Elephant
* pad elephant
* pink elephant
* pink elephants
* pseudelephant
* pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis)
* retail elephant
* rogue elephant
* savanna elephant, savannah elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
* sea-elephant
* sea elephant (Mirounga)
* see the elephant
* she-elephant
* shoot an elephant with a BB gun
* show the elephant
* Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus)
* straight-tusked elephant (†Palaeoloxodon antiquus)
* Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus)
* temple elephant
* war elephant
* water elephant
* were-elephant
* white elephant

#### Related terms

* chryselephantine
* elephancy
* elephanta
* elephanter
* elephantiac
* elephantiasis
* elephantic
* Elephantidae
* elephantine
* elephantoid
* Elephantopus
* Elephas

#### Descendants

* → Hawaiian: ʻelepani
* → Maori: arewhana
* → Tokelauan: elefane
* → Tongan: ʻelefanite
* → Welsh: eliffant

#### Translations

Abkhaz: аслан (aslan)
Acehnese: gajah
Adyghe: пыл (pəl)
Afar: dakanu
Afrikaans: olifant (af)
Ahom: 𑜋𑜂𑜫 (chaṅ)
Akan: ɛsono
Akkadian: 𒄠𒋛 m or f (pīrum)
Albanian: elefant (sq)
Amharic: ዝሆን (zəhon)
Amis: eco
Arabic: فِيل (ar) m (fīl)
Chadian Arabic: فيل m (fīl)
Egyptian Arabic: فيل m (fīl)
Aragonese: alifante m
Aramaic:
Hebrew: פילא m (pīlā’), פילתא f (pīltā’)
Syriac: ܦܝܠܐ m (pīlā’), ܦܝܠܬܐ f (pīltā’)
Armenian: փիղ (hy) (pʻiġ)
Assamese: হাতী (hati)
Asturian: elefante (ast) m
Ateso: etome
Avar: пил (pil)
Azerbaijani: fil (az)
Banjarese: gajah
Bashkir: фил (fil)
Basque: elefante (eu)
Batek: gawoy, gagok
Bau Bidayuh: gajah
Belarusian: слон m (slon), слані́ха f (slaníxa)
Bemba: nsofu
Bengali: হাতি (bn) (hati)
Besisi: mberat
Bezhta: пил (pil)
Bikol Central: gadya (bcl)
Blackfoot: innóóhksisii
Breton: olifant (br) m
Brunei Malay: gajah
Bulgarian: слон (bg) m (slon)
Burmese: ဆင် (my) (hcang)
Buryat: заан (zaan)
Carpathian Rusyn: слон m (slon)
Catalan: elefant (ca) m
Old Catalan: orifany m, aurifany m, olifany m
Central Dusun: godingon, godingan
Central Melanau: gajah
Cerma: gbɛ̃lŋo
Chakma: please add this translation if you can
Chechen: пийл (piı̇l)
Cheq Wong: itung
Cherokee: ᎧᎹᎹ (kamama), ᎧᎹᎹ ᎤᏔᎾ (kamama utana)
Cheyenne: tsėhe'ėseeséhe
Chichewa: njovu
Chinese:
Cantonese: 象 (zoeng$^6$), 大象 (daai$^6$ zoeng$^6$), 大笨象 (daai$^6$ ban$^6$ zoeng$^6$)
Dungan: щён (xi͡on)
Eastern Min: 象 (chiông)
Gan: 象 (xiong$^5$)
Hakka: 象 (siong)
Hokkien: 象 (zh-min-nan) (chhiūⁿ / chhiǔⁿ / chhiōⁿ / chhiāuⁿ / siōng / sióng / siǒng / chhiāng)
Jin: 象 (xion$^3$)
Mandarin: 象 (zh) (xiàng), 大象 (zh) (dàxiàng)
Northern Min: 象 (siōng)
Wu: 象 ($^6$zhian)
Xiang: 象 (sian$^4$)
Chol: elefanti
Chukchi: эʼԓыпын (ėʼḷypyn)
Chuvash: слон (slon), сӑлан (sălan)
Classical Nahuatl: elepantli
Cornish: olifans m
Crimean Tatar: fil
Czech: slon (cs) m, slonice (cs) f
Dagbani: wobgu, wɔbigu
Danish: elefant (da) c
Defaka: ɓɪla
Dhivehi: އެތް (et̊)
Dinka: akoon
Dutch: olifant (nl) m, elpendier n, elp (nl) m
Eastern Cham: ꨤꨪꨟꨲꩆ
Egyptian: (ꜣbw)
Ekpeye: enyî
Esperanto: elefanto (eo)
Estonian: elevant (et)
Faroese: fílur (fo) m
Fijian: elefani
Finnish: norsu (fi), elefantti (fi)
French: éléphant (fr) m, éléphante (fr) f, éléphanteau (fr) m, (rare) éléphantelle (fr) f
Middle French: elephant m
Old French: olifan m
Friulian: elefant m
Gagauz: fillär, fil
Galician: elefante (gl) m
Georgian: სპილო (sṗilo)
German: Elefant (de) m, Elefantenbulle (de) m, Elefantin (de) f, Elefantenkuh (de) f, Elefantenkalb (de) n
Alemannic German: Elifant m
Greek: ελέφαντας (el) m (eléfantas)
Ancient: ἐλέφας (eléphas)
Greenlandic: nagguaatsoq
Guaraní: tapi'itĩmbuku
Gujarati: હાથી (gu) m (hāthī)
Gwere: nzogi
Hausa: giwa f
Hawaiian: ʻelepani
Hebrew: פִּיל (he) m (pil)
Hindi: हाथी (hi) m (hāthī), हस्ती (hi) m (hastī), गज (hi) m (gaj), पील (hi) m (pīl)
Hungarian: elefánt (hu)
Ibani: bɪla
Ibibio: eniin
Icelandic: fíll (is) m
Ida'an: liman
Ido: elefanto (io)
Ilocano: gadia
Indonesian: gajah (id)
Ingush: пилла (pilla)
Interlingua: elephante
Irish: eilifint f
Isan: ซ่าง
Italian: elefante (it) m
Japanese: 象 (ja) (ぞう, zou), ゾウ (ja) (zou)
Jarai: rơman
Jarawa: ʈʰehuːʈʰu
Javanese: ꦒꦗꦃ (gajah), ꦭꦶꦩꦤ꧀ (liman) (krama), ꦢ꧀ꦮꦶꦥꦁꦒ (dwipangga), ꦢ꧀ꦮꦶꦫꦢ (dwirada), ꦧ꧀ꦭꦼꦢꦸꦒ꧀ (jv) (bledug) (young)
Jehai: antok
Jeju: 코끼리 (kokkiri), 퀘끼리 (kwekkiri)
Jingpho: magwi (spelling in Myanmar), magui (spelling in China)
Kalenjin: ebelio
Kalmyk: зан (zan)
Kamba: nzou
Kambaata: danichcho
Kannada: ಆನೆ (kn) (āne), ಗಜ (kn) (gaja)
Kapampangan: elipanti, gaddia
Karang: mbali
Kashmiri: ہۆس (ks) m (hos), ہۆست (ks) m (host), ۂسؠ تِنؠ (ks) f (hạs'tin')
Kashubian: słóń m
Kazakh: піл (pıl)
Kenaboi: gĕntúl, bĕrat
Khasi: hati
Khmer: ដំរី (km) (dɑmrəy)
Khoekhoe: ǂkhoab
Kikuyu: njogu class 9/10
Kituba: nzau
Komi-Permyak: слӧн (slön)
Kongo: nzau
Korean: 코끼리 (ko) (kokkiri)
Kristang: alfanti
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: فیل (ckb) (fîl)
Northern Kurdish: fîl (ku)
Kwama: kwɨ
Kyrgyz: пил (ky) (pil)
Ladin: elefant
Ladino: איליפ׳אנטי (elefante)
Lao: ຊ້າງ (lo) (sāng)
Latin: elephantus (la), elephas (la), barrus m, Lūca bōs m or f
Latvian: zilonis (lv) m
Lezgi: фил (fil)
Lingala: nzɔku
Lithuanian: dramblys (lt) m
Lü: ᦋᦱᧂᧉ (tsaang²)
Luhya: enjofu
Maasai: olkanchaoi m, olenkaina m, oltome m
Macedonian: слон m (slon)
Madurese: ꦓꦙ (ghajha)
Malagasy: elefanta (mg)
Malay: gajah (ms), cewe untut, biram (ms), liman (ms)
Malayalam: ആന (ml) (āna)
Maltese: ljunfant
Manchu: ᠰᡠᡶᠠᠨ (sufan)
Mandinka: samoo
Marathi: हत्ती m (hattī)
Mezquital Otomi: elefante
Mirandese: eilefante m
Moksha: слан (slan)
Mon: စိၚ် (mnw)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: заан (mn) (zaan)
Mongolian: ᠵᠠᠭᠠᠨ (ǰaɣan)
Mukulu: 'elbi
Mwani: nembo
Nahuatl: elefante (nah)
Navajo: bíchį́į́h yee adilohii
Nepali: हात्ती (ne) m (hāttī)
Newar: किसी (kisī)
Ngazidja Comorian: nɗovu class 9/10
Nkonya: srʋfɔ
Norman: êléphant m
Northern Sami: elefánta
Northern Sotho: tlou
Northern Thai: ᨩ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨦ (cang), ᨩ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨦ
Norwegian:
Bokmål: elefant (no) m
Nuer: guɔr
Nupe: dagba
Occitan: elefant (oc) m
Odia: ହାତୀ (hāti)
Ojibwe: jejiibajikii
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: слонь m (slonĭ)
Old East Slavic: слонъ m (slonŭ)
Old English: elpend m
Old Norse: fíll m
Oromo: arbaa
Ossetian: пыл (pyl)
Ottoman Turkish: فیل (fil)
Pali: hatthin m, nāga m, gaja m
Pannonian Rusyn: єлефант m (jelefant), слон m (slon)
Pashto: پيل (ps) m (pil)
Persian:
Middle Persian: pyl (pīl)
Dari: فِیل (fīl), پِیل (pīl)
Iranian Persian: فیل (fa) (fil), پیل (fa) (pil), کنجر (kenjar)
Polish: słoń (pl) m anim, słonica (pl) f
Portuguese: elefante (pt) m, elefanta (pt) f, aliá (pt) f, elefoa (pt) f, alifante (pt) m
Punjabi: ਹਾਥੀ m (hāthī)
Rade: êman
Marwari: गयंद m (gayand)
Rohingya: háñti
Romani: woroslano m, woroslanka f, elefànto m
Romanian: elefant (ro) m
Romansch: elefant
Russian: слон (ru) m (slon), слони́ха (ru) f (sloníxa)
Rwanda-Rundi: inzovu
Saek: ซาง
Saho: dakano
Samoan: 'elefane
Sanskrit: गज (sa) m (gaja), इभ (sa) m (ibha), हस्तिन् (sa) m (hastin), नाग (sa) m (nāga), वारण (sa) m (vāraṇá) (poetic)
Santali: ᱦᱟᱹᱛᱤ (hăti)
Sardinian: elefante ?, elefanti ?
Scottish Gaelic: ailbhean m
Semai: cig
Semelai: kĕgdo, pemalen, pemaleng
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: сло̏н m, сло̀ница f, фил m (regional)
Roman: slȍn (sh) m, slònica (sh) f, fil (sh) m (regional)
Shan: ၸၢင်ႉ (shn) (tsâ̰ang)
Sherpa: གླང་པུ (glang pu)
Shona: nzou
Sicilian: liotru (scn) m, lifanti m
Sidamo: dano
Sindhi: ہاٿيِ (hāthī)
Sinhalese: අලියා (aliyā)
Slovak: slon (sk) m
Slovene: slon (sl) m, slonica (sl) f
Somali: maroodi (so)
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: elefant m, słon m (literary)
Upper Sorbian: elefant (hsb) m, słon m
Sotho: tlou (st)
Southern Tidung: gedingan
Spanish: elefante (es) m
Old Spanish: alefant m, eleofant m, elifant m
Sranan Tongo: asaw
Sumerian: 𒄠𒋛 (amsi)
Sundanese: ᮌᮏᮂ (gajah)
Supyire: ńtàsùù
Swahili: ndovu (sw), tembo (sw)
Swazi: indlovu
Swedish: elefant (sv)
Sylheti: ꠀꠔ꠆ꠔꠤ (atti)
Tagal Murut: godingan, godingan
Tagalog: elepante (tl), gadya (tl)
Tai Dam: ꪋ꫁ꪱꪉ
Tai Nüa: ᥓᥣᥒᥳ (tsȧang)
Tajik: фил (tg) (fil), пил (pil)
Tamil: யானை (ta) (yāṉai)
Tangale: labata
Tatar: фил (tt) (fil)
Tedaga: kumon
Telugu: ఏనుగు (te) (ēnugu), గజము (te) (gajamu)
Temiar: talam, alul, ateng, alĕĕp, alaay, atũd, orang besar, tangk'el (Ple-Temer)
Temoq: koleq
Thai: ช้าง (th) (cháang), คชสาร (th) (kót-chá-sǎan)
Tibetan: གླང་ཆེན (glang chen), གླང་པོ (glang po)
Tigrinya: ሓርማዝ (ti) (ḥarmaz)
Timugon Murut: gadingan, mangumbus togup
Toba Batak: ᯎᯐ (gaja)
Tocharian B: onkolmo
Tswana: tlou class 9/10
Tumbuka: ndlovu
Turka: gbĩɛ̃lw
Turkana: etom
Turkish: fil (tr)
Turkmen: pil
Tyap: zwuom (kcg)
Udi: фил (fil)
Udmurt: слон (slon)
Uduk: jè
Ukrainian: слон (uk) m (slon), слони́ха f (slonýxa), слонь m (slonʹ) (archaic)
Urdu: ہاتھی m (hāthī), ہَسْتی m (hastī), گَج m (gaj), فِیل m (fīl), پِیل m (pīl)
Uyghur: پىل (pil)
Uzbek: fil (uz)
Veddah: බොටකඳා (boṭakan̆dā)
Venda: nḓou
Vietnamese: voi (vi)
Vilamovian: elefaont
Volapük: leefad (vo)
Welsh: eliffant (cy), cawrfil m
West Coast Bajau: datu', gaja
West Frisian: oaljefant c
Western Cham: ليمان limân
White Hmong: ntxhw
Wolof: ñey wi, ñay (wo)
Xhosa: indlovu
Yagnobi: фил (fil)
Yakut: слон (slon)
Yaqui: elehaánte
Yiddish: העלפֿאַנד m (helfand)
Yoruba: erin
Yucatec Maya: chowak jom, elefante
Zazaki: fil (diq)
Zhuang: duzciengh, ciengh
Zulu: indlovu (zu) class 9/10
ǃXóõ: ǂxūa :

### See also

Xiangqi pieces in English (see also: xiangqi) (layout · text) :
| general | advisor | elephant | horse | chariot | cannon | soldier |

### Further reading

* elephant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Elephant (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* heptenal

## Middle French
### Noun

elephant m (plural elephans)
* elephant (animal)

#### Descendants

* French: éléphant
** Haitian Creole: elefan
** → Romanian: elefant
* → Irish: eilifint
* → Norman: êléphant, éléphant