chryselephantine

[kris-el-uh-fan-tin, -tahyn]

adjective

1. made of or overlaid with gold and ivory, as certain objects made in ancient Greece.

chryselephantine

/ ˌkrɪsɛlɪˈfæntɪn /

adjective

1. (of ancient Greek statues) made of or overlaid with gold and ivory

Word History and Origins

Origin of chryselephantine¹

1820–30; < Greek chrȳselephántinos, equivalent to chrȳs- chrys- + elephántinos ( elephant-, stem of eléphās elephant, ivory + -inos -ine ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of chryselephantine¹

C19: from Greek khruselephantinos, from khrusos gold + elephas ivory; see _elephant

Example Sentences

The material was what the Greeks called chryselephantine; that is, the flesh was composed of plates of ivory skillfully laid on; but the drapery and ornaments were pure gold.

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There was the grove of Altis, in which were ranged the statues of the victorious athletes, and the temple of Olympian Zeus with the chryselephantine statue of the god, the masterpiece of Pheidias.

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In the atrium of the fictional Megalopolitan Building at 700-853 Fleet Street there is a “chryselephantine effigy of Lord Copper,” The Beast’s proprietor, “in coronation robes, rising above the throng, on a polygonal malachite pedestal.”

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In the chryselephantine, or ivory statues of Jove and Minerva, by Phidias, art was made a handmaid to religion.

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The chryselephantine papal standard rises high, surrounded by pennons of the civic flag.

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