Main Entry: el·e·phant

Pronunciation: \ˈe-lə-fənt\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural elephants also elephant

Usage: often attributive

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French olifant, elefant, from L. elephantus, from Greek elephant-, elephas

Date: 14th century

1 : any of a family (Elephantidae, the elephant family) of thickset usually extremely large nearly hairless herbivorous mammals that have a snout elongated into a muscular trunk and two incisors in the upper jaw developed especially in the male into large ivory tusks and that include two living forms and various extinct relatives: as a : a tall large-eared mammal (Loxodonta africana) of tropical Africa —called also African elephant b : a relatively small-eared mammal (Elephas maximus) of forests of southeastern Asia —called also Asian elephant, Indian elephant
2 : an animal or fossil related to the elephants
3 : one that is uncommonly large or hard to manage

[elephant illustration]