chryselephantine
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of chryselephantine
1820–30; < Greek chrȳselephántinos, equivalent to chrȳs- chrys- + elephántinos ( elephant-, stem of eléphās elephant, ivory + -inos -ine 1
Explanation
Use chryselephantine to describe ancient Greek sculpture that's made of ivory and gold. In the 6th century, chryselephantine figures commonly adorned the insides of temples, depicting gods and goddesses. These sculptures, built on wooden frames, used ivory for the deities' bodies and faces, and sheets of hammered gold to represent their hair, clothing, and armor. Chryselephantine is derived from Greek roots, khrysos, "gold, " and elephans, which means both "elephant" and "ivory."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Actress West plays her heroine with an eloquent and minatory calm, which contrasts well with the chryselephantine magnificence of her appearance.
From Time Magazine Archive
It is ironic that the best evidence we have of what Phidias' lost chryselephantine statue of Athena in the Parthenon looked like should be preserved on a Scythian woman's pendant from the 4th century B.C.
From Time Magazine Archive
The chryselephantine papal standard rises high, surrounded by pennons of the civic flag.
From Ulysses by James Joyce
The most famous works of Phidias were the two chryselephantine statues to which reference has just been made, and two or three other statues of the same materials were ascribed to him.
From A History of Greek Art by Frank Bigelow Tarbell
In the chryselephantine, or ivory statues of Jove and Minerva, by Phidias, art was made a handmaid to religion.
From Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life by T. L. (Thomas Louis) Haines
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
