elephant
Plural: elephants
Noun
- A large, gray, herbivorous mammal with a trunk and tusks.
- five-toed pachyderm
- the symbol of the Republican Party; introduced in cartoons by Thomas Nast in 1874
- A large mammal of the family Elephantidae in the order Proboscidea, having a trunk, and native to Africa and Asia.
- Any member of the subfamily Elephantinae not also of the genera Mammuthus and Primelephas.
- Anything huge and ponderous.
- Synonym of elephant paper.
- used when counting to add length, so that each count takes about one second
- Ivory.
- A xiangqi piece that is moved two points diagonally, may not jump over intervening pieces and may not cross the river.
Examples
- Let's play hide and seek. I'll count. One elephant, two elephant, three elephant...
- Playing ELEPHANT on a double word score felt as momentous as moving the actual animal.
Origin / 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”).
Synonyms
elephant, elephant paper, elephantid, oliphaunt
Scrabble Score: 13
elephant: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordelephant: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
elephant: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary