elephant

American  

[el-uh-fuhnt] / ˈɛl ə fənt /

noun

• elephants,
  plural
• elephant
  plural

1. a very large herbivorous mammal of the family Elephantidae, the only extant family of proboscideans and comprising the genera Loxodonta (African elephants ) and Elephas (Asian elephants ): Elephants of all species are characterized by a long, prehensile trunk formed of the nose and upper lip, pillarlike legs, and prominent tusks, which are possessed by both sexes of Loxodonta and just the males of Elephas.

2. a representation of this animal, used in the United States since 1874 as the emblem of the Republican Party.

3. Chiefly British. a size of drawing or writing paper, 23 × 28 inches (58 × 71 centimeters).

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idioms

1. elephant in the room. see elephant in the room.

elephant British  

/ ˈɛlɪfənt /

noun

1. either of the two proboscidean mammals of the family Elephantidae . The African elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) is the larger species, with large flapping ears and a less humped back than the Indian elephant ( Elephas maximus ), of S and SE Asia

2. a size of writing paper, 23 by 28 inches

3. an obvious truth deliberately ignored by all parties in a situation

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elephant Cultural  

1. A symbol (see also symbol) of the Republican party, introduced in a series of political cartoons by Thomas Nast during the congressional elections of 1874. (Compare donkey.)

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elephant More Idioms  

1. see see the elephant; white elephant.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• elephantoid
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• elephant
  plural
• elephants
  plural

Etymology

Origin of elephant

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English (from Anglo-French ), from Latin elephantus, from Greek elephant- (stem of eléphās ) “elephant”; replacing Middle English olifaunt, from Anglo-French, from unattested Vulgar Latin olifantus, for Latin elephantus

Explanation

An elephant is an enormous, four-footed animal with big ears and a long trunk. By weight, elephants are the largest land-dwelling animals. The largest species of elephant, the African savanna elephant, weighs up to 14,000 pounds! African elephants usually have long, curved tusks; some male Asian elephants have tusks, but females do not. You can look at an elephants' ears to help distinguish between African and Asian elephants: African elephants have large, fan-shaped ears, while Asian elephants have smaller, more rounded ears. Elephants use their long trunks for grasping things, vocalizing, and sucking up water. These herbivores travel around foraging in large, tight-knit groups of females and their young. Adult males tend to be more solitary.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

elephant elephants

Violet, the elephant seal pup, was rescued at Palos Verdes Estates in mid-March.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

Volunteer Mitchel Reising cleans a pen occupied by elephant seals 3.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

The giant wad of cash splurged on all this would choke an elephant.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

Each chapter surveys the hoof, trunk or some other segment of the conceptual elephant in more or less chronological progression and finishes with a brief summary of what readers ought to take away.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

“I came down to help. You can’t take care of everything here, especially with an elephant calf on its way.”

From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith

"If you start looking at long-lived species like elephants, whales and bats, you start finding ways that nature has actually already resolved a lot of these problems in human health," Vazquez added.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 12, 2026

For millions of years, Pacific mastodons — huge, hairy relatives of modern elephants — roamed a vast and lush range that included California, Oregon, the northern Rocky Mountains and parts of Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

It saw wildlife experts attempt to move elephants from a park in Malawi to help increase population in areas where they have been heavily poached.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

There are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund -- most in India, with others in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

I think of the elephants that Esme told me about and how Ruby is sort of like my little sister.

From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

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