elephant

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“
But he differs from the psychological decadents and impressionists in this important point, that he thinks that although the blind men found out very little about the elephant, the elephant was an elephant, and was there all the time.

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Definitions (16)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun Either of two very large herbivorous mammals, Elephas maximus of south-central Asia or Loxodonta africana of Africa, having thick, almost hairless skin, a long, flexible, prehensile trunk, upper incisors forming long curved tusks of ivory, and, in the African species, large fan-shaped ears.
  2. noun Any of various extinct or living animals related to either of these two animals.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English elefaunt, from Old French olifant, from Vulgar Latin *olifantus, from Latin elephantus, from Greek elephās, elephant-.

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  1. from Middle English elefaunt, elifant, elifaunt, earlier and more commonly olifant, olifaunt, olefawnt, olyfaunt, olifont, olifunt (rarely, in later Middle English, spelled with ph, as in L.), from Old French olifant, also elifant, French éléphant = Provencal elephant = Spanish elefante = Portuguese elefante, elephante = Italian elefante = Anglo-Saxon elpend, elp, ylp, an elephant (see alp), = Middle Dutch, Dutch elefant (also Middle Dutch olefant, olifant, Dutch olifant, from Old French) = Middle Low German elefant, elepant, also elpender, olvant = Old High German elafant, elfant, helfant, Middle High German elefant, elfant, elfent, German elefant, elephant = Danish Swedish elefant (cf. Gothic (Moesogothic) ulbandus = Old High German olbanta, olbenta, olbanda, Middle High German olbende, olbent = Anglo-Saxon olfend, a camel: see camel), from Latin elephas, elephans (elephant-), also elephantus, and Middle Latin elefantus, from Greek ἐλέφας (ἐλεφαντ-), an elephant (first in Herodotus), ivory (first in Homer and Hesiod); perhaps from Hebrew eleph, an ox (cf. Lucabos, Lucanian ox, the older L. name: see alpha); but some compare Hebrew ibāh, Sanskrit ibhas, an elephant, and L. ebur, ivory: see ivory. The Slav. and Oriental names are different: Old Bulgarian slonŭ = Bohemian slon = Polish slon' = Russian slonŭ (later Lithuanian slanas), elephant; Turkish Arabic fīl, Hindustani fīl, pīl, from Persian pīl, elephant; Hindustani hāthī, hātī, from Sanskrit hastīn, elephant, from hasta, hand, trunk.
 

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/ˈɛləfənt/
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