слон

• słon — Łacinka (Belarusian Latin alphabet)

From Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it is related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

• IPA^(key): [sɫon]

• Audio:

  (file)

слон • (slon) m animal (genitive слана́, nominative plural сланы́, genitive plural слано́ў)

1. elephant
2. (chess) bishop

• IPA^(key): [sɫɔn]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔn

From Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it is related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

слон • (slon) m (feminine слони́ца)

1. elephant (usually a male one)

   Synonym: (obsolete) фил (fil)

   като слон в стъкларски магазин (idiom) ― kato slon v stǎklarski magazin ― like a bull in a china shop (literally, “like an elephant in a chine shop”)

   от мухата прави слон (idiom) ― ot muhata pravi slon ― to make a mountain out of a molehill (literally, “to make an elephant out of a fly”)

• евразийски слон (evrazijski slon, “gen. Elephas”) (literally: Eurasian elephant)
• африкански слон (afrikanski slon, “gen. Loxodonta”) (literally: African elephant)
• маму́т (mamút, “mammoth”)

• “слон”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2014
• “слон”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Chitanka, 2010
• Nayden Gerov, Тодор Панчев (1904) “слонъ (2)”, in Рѣчникъ на Блъгарскꙑй язꙑкъ. Съ тлъкувание рѣчи-тꙑ на Блъгарскꙑ и на Русскꙑ. [Dictionary of the Bulgarian language]‎^[2] (in Bulgarian), volume 5, Plovdiv: Дружествена печꙗтница "Съгласие.", page 193
• Todorov, T. A., Racheva, M., editors (2010), “слон²”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 7 (слòво – теря̀свам), Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 113

From Proto-Slavic *slonъ (“offset”).

слон • (slon) m (dialectal)

1. shelter, offset (used for protection)

   Synonyms: стря́ха (strjáha), на́вес (náves)

2. pen, sheepfold

   Synonyms: коша́ра (košára), коте́ц (kotéc)

This entry needs an inflection-table template.

• Nayden Gerov, Тодор Панчев (1904) “слонъ (1)”, in Рѣчникъ на Блъгарскꙑй язꙑкъ. Съ тлъкувание рѣчи-тꙑ на Блъгарскꙑ и на Русскꙑ. [Dictionary of the Bulgarian language]‎^[3] (in Bulgarian), volume 5, Plovdiv: Дружествена печꙗтница "Съгласие.", page 193
• Todorov, T. A., Racheva, M., editors (2010), “слон¹”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 7 (слòво – теря̀свам), Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 112

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it is related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

• IPA^(key): [sɫɔn]
• Rhymes: -ɔn

слон • (slon) m (plural слонови, feminine слоница, relational adjective слонов, diminutive слонче, augmentative слониште)

1. elephant

• слонъ (slon) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it is related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).^[1][2]

Vovin (2011) proposes that Slavic slonъ reflects Old Chinese 象 (*ljaŋʔ /⁠*slaŋ⁠/, “elephant”), an etymology previously suggested by Ivanov (1977: 156–57) albeit with an incorrect Old Chinese reconstruction *sðaŋ. As Vovin notes, contact between Slavic and Old Chinese is out of the question, so the solution might arise from an intermediary source. Ivanov (1977:154) believes that the Chuvash forms слон (slon), сӑлан (sălan, “elephant”) are Russian loans, with the latter being called into question by Vovin on phonetic grounds. According to him, Russian /o/ (phonetically a diphthong [uo] with a mid-high syllabic element [o]) is unlikely to be borrowed as Chuvash low vowel /a/. The reverse, namely the borrowing of Bulgar slightly labialised /a/ as Slavic /o/ is more than likely. Chuvash сӑлан (sălan, “elephant”) is exactly the expected outcome of the Old Chinese *slaŋ with the insertion of ⟨ă⟩ breaking the OC initial cluster /sl-/ and typical Bulgar shift of Proto-Turkic *ŋ to /n/. The presence of this word in Chuvash places proto-Bulgar speakers in the vicinity of Northern China no later than first century BCE, because approximately after that date the initial clusters in Old Chinese underwent the process of simplification.^[3]

• IPA^(key): [sɫon]

• Audio:

  (file)

слон • (slon) m anim (genitive слона́, nominative plural слоны́, genitive plural слоно́в, feminine слони́ха, relational adjective слоно́вый or слоно́вий, diminutive сло́ник, augmentative слони́ще or слоня́ра)

1. elephant

   Meronyms: хо́бот (xóbot), би́вень (bívenʹ)

2. (chess) bishop
3. (colloquial, usually about children) one who walks loudly or heavily; stomper

• (chess piece): С (S)

• (chess piece): офице́р (oficér) (informal)

• слонёнок m anim (slonjónok)
• слони́ха f anim (sloníxa)
• слоно́вник m (slonóvnik)

Compound words:

• слонопота́м m anim (slonopotám)

Compounds:

• морско́й слон m anim (morskój slon)
• слон в посу́дной ла́вке m anim (slon v posúdnoj lávke)

Phrases

• де́лать из му́хи слона́ impf (délatʹ iz múxi sloná)
• как слону́ дроби́на (kak slonú drobína)

• → Ingrian: slona
• → Kildin Sami: слонн (slonn)
• → Komi-Zyrian: слӧн (slön)
• → Latvian: zilonis

• СЛОН (SLON)

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it's related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

• IPA^(key): /slôn/

сло̏н m anim (Latin spelling slȍn)

1. elephant

• “слон”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

From Proto-Slavic *slonъ, possibly a deverbative from Proto-Slavic *sloniti sę (“to lean against”), relating to а medieval story of а sleeping elephant who leaned against a tree. According to some other sources, it's related to the Turkish arslan (“lion”).

• IPA^(key): [sɫɔn]

• Audio:

  (file)

слон • (slon) m animal (genitive слона́, nominative plural слони́, genitive plural слоні́в, female equivalent слони́ха, relational adjective слоно́вий or слоня́чий, diminutive слоне́ня or слоня́)

1. elephant

   Synonyms: слін (slin), елефант (elefant)

2. (chess) bishop

• Bilodid, I. K., editor (1970–1980), “слон”, in Словник української мови: в 11 т. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language: in 11 vols] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka
• “слон”, in Горох – Словозміна [Horokh – Inflection] (in Ukrainian)