elephant English · revision 7959

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1300|origins=grc ἐλέφας}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɛlɪfənt/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɛləfənt/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English olyfaunt, [[bor|fro|olifant|t=elephant, ivory]], elefant,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from Latin [[m|la|elephantus]], from Greek [[m|grc|ἐλέφας|tr=eléphās|t=elephant; ivory]] (genitive eléphantos),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) a borrowed word of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline suggests a non-Indo-European source, perhaps through Phoenician,^(Etymonline) and Barnhart finds no plausible link with Latin ebur, [[ivory]], or Egyptian āb, elephant.^(Barnhart 1988) The spelling was remodelled on Latin, elifant in the 14th century and elephant after 1550.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The animal: probably before 1300, in ''Kyng Alisaunder'';^(Barnhart 1988) about 1300 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old English had elpend, and elpendbān, ivory, but a confusion of exotic animals led to olfend, camel.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) Ivory, ''elephant's teeth'', is from 1398,^(OED 1989) and Trench notes Chapman's use of elephant for ivory in his ''Odyssey''.^(Trench 1859) A man of huge stature is figurative from 1606.^(OED 1989) The ''white elephant'', a burdensome possession, is from 1607, from a story about the kings of Siam.^(OED 1989) The elephant as emblem of the US Republican Party is from 1860,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and ''to see the elephant'', to see the world, American slang from 1835.^(OED 1989) Collins records ''the elephant in the room'', an obvious problem everyone ignores.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – olyfaunt.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1398 – ivory.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1550s – spelling elephant.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1607 – a white elephant.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1835 – to see the elephant.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1860 – the Republican emblem.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A very large plant-eating mammal of Africa or Asia with a long [[trunk]], large ears and ivory [[tusk|alt=tusks]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(chiefly British)'' A size of paper, 23 by 28 inches.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[elephantoid]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chryselephantine]]

+ * [[elephantiasis]]

+ * [[elephantine]]

+ * [[ivory]]

+ * [[oliphant]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}