: a thickset, usually extremely large, nearly hairless, herbivorous mammal (family Elephantidae, the elephant family) that has a snout elongated into a muscular trunk and two incisors in the upper jaw developed especially in the male into long ivory tusks:
(1)
: a tall, large-eared mammal (Loxodonta africana) of tropical Africa that is sometimes considered to comprise two separate species (L. africana of sub-Saharan savannas and L. cyclotis of central and western rainforests)
called alsoAfrican elephant
(2)
: a relatively small-eared mammal (Elephas maximus) of forests of southeastern Asia
called alsoAsian elephant, Indian elephant
b
: any of various extinct relatives of the elephant see mammoth, mastodon
by any standard, the new shopping mall will be an elephant and one that is certain to alter the retail landscape
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Similar challenges explain why the Nashville Zoo doesn't have polar bears or elephants, which are difficult to keep safe and happy in captivity.—Molly Davis, The Tennessean, 3 Feb. 2025 Some of the animals at the park include giraffes, rhinos, tigers, platypuses, and elephants.—San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Feb. 2025 All of the skeletons belonged to woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius), the extinct relatives of modern elephants.—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Feb. 2025 What To Know Photographs in the eBay listing show a small sculpture consisting of a crystal ball and a stand made up of elephants, which hold the ball with their trunks.—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 31 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for elephant
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French olifant, elefant, from L. elephantus, from Greek elephant-, elephas
: any of a family of huge thickset nearly hairless mammals that have the snout lengthened into a trunk and two incisors in the upper jaw developed into long outward-curving pointed ivory tusks and that include two living forms:
a
: one with large ears that occurs in tropical Africa
b
: one with relatively small ears that occurs in forests of southeastern Asia
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