elephant

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

IPA^(key): /ˈɛlɪfənt/, /ˈɛlɪfnt/
Audio (General American); /ˈɛləfənt/: (file)
(Philippines) IPA^(key): /el.e.fant/
(Indic) IPA^(key): /ĕl.ɪf.æɳʈ/, /ĕl.ɪf.ăɳʈ/
Hyphenation: ele‧phant

Noun

elephant (countable and uncountable, plural elephants)

A large mammal of the family Elephantidae in the order Proboscidea, having a trunk, and native to Africa and Asia.
(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.

Related terms

Descendants

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

Translations

mammal

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 class 9
Chinese:
Cantonese: 象 (zoeng⁶), 大象 (daai⁶ zoeng⁶), 大笨象 (daai⁶ ban⁶ zoeng⁶)

Dungan: щён (xi͡on)

Eastern Min: 象 (chiông)

Gan: 象 (xiong⁵)

Hakka: 象 (siong)

Hokkien: 象 (zh-min-nan) (chhiūⁿ / chhiǔⁿ / chhiōⁿ / chhiāuⁿ / siōng / sióng / siǒng / chhiāng)

Jin: 象 (xion³)

Mandarin: 象 (zh) (xiàng), 大象 (zh) (dàxiàng)

Northern Min: 象 (siōng)

Wu: 象 (⁶zhian)

Xiang: 象 (sian⁴)
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: akɔ̈ɔ̈n
Duala: njo̠u class 9
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
Lutuv: ale
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), پیل (pil)
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, ^{(please verify)} 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 Altai: јаан (ǰaan)
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)
Tày: chạng
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
Yaghnobi: 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