elefante

Borrowed from Latin elephantem, accusative of elephans, from Ancient Greek ἐλέφᾱς (eléphās). Cognates include Spanish elefante and Portuguese elefante.

• IPA^(key): /eleˈfante/ [e.leˈfãn̪.t̪e]
• Rhymes: -ante
• Syllabification: e‧le‧fan‧te

elefante m (plural elefantes)

1. elephant (mammal)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “From Spanish or directly from Latin?”)

• IPA^(key): /elefante/ [e.le.fãn̪.t̪e]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ante, -e
• Hyphenation: e‧le‧fan‧te

elefante anim

1. elephant

• “elefante”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “elefante”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Borrowed from Spanish elefante.

elefante

1. elephant.

• elepante (obsolete)

Borrowed from Spanish elefante.

elefante

1. elephant

• elefente

Borrowed from Latin elephantem, accusative of elephas, from Ancient Greek ἐλέφᾱς (eléphās). Cognates include Italian elefante and Spanish elefante.

• IPA^(key): /eleˈfãnte/

elefante m (plural elefanti)

1. elephant

• “elefante, elefente” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

• alefante

From Old Galician-Portuguese elefante, borrowed from Latin elephās, elephantis (“elephant”), from Ancient Greek ἐλέφᾱς (eléphās, “elephant, ivory”).

• IPA^(key): /eleˈfante/ [e.leˈfan̪.t̪ɪ]
• Rhymes: -ante
• Hyphenation: e‧le‧fan‧te

elefante m (plural elefantes, feminine elefanta, feminine plural elefantas)

1. elephant

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “elefante”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “elefante”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “elefante”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN
• “elefante”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

• alifante, leofante

Borrowed from Latin elephantem.

• IPA^(key): /e.leˈfan.te/
• Rhymes: -ante
• Hyphenation: e‧le‧fàn‧te

• Audio:

  (file)

elefante m (plural elefanti, feminine elefantessa)

1. elephant

• elefantiaco
• elefantiasi
• elefantino

• elefante in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

• elefante on the Italian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^it

elefante

1. vocative singular of elefantus

• alefante, alifãt, alifant, alifante, allifante, allyfante, alyfante, elephante, elifante, ellefante, ellifãte, elyfante, helifante

Learned borrowing from Latin elephās, borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐλέφᾱς (eléphās), possibly borrowed from Egyptian ꜣbw, from Proto-Afroasiatic *leb-. First attested in the 14th century.

elefante m (plural elefantes)

1. elephant
   • 1373 January 20, Fernán Martís, chapter 121, in Cronica Troiana [Trojan Chronicle], translation of Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure, page 42:

     Et auja hũ caſtelete en çima todo encoyrado de coyro de alifãt. ⁊ era laũado p̃ g̃rã maeſtria ⁊ pintado moy ben.

     And there was a castlet on it, covered with elephant hide and skillfully adorned and very well painted.

2. (pathology, uncountable) elephantiasis

• Fala: elefanti
• Galician: elefante, alefante
• Portuguese: elefante, elephante, elephãte (obsolete)
  • Papiamentu: elefante

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “+l@fante”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “[ael[eiy]fante]”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antônio Geraldo da Cunha (2020–2025) “elefante”, in Vocabulário histórico-cronológico do Português Medieval (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa

• elephante, elephãte (obsolete)

From Old Galician-Portuguese elefante, elifante, borrowed from Latin elephantis (“elephant”), from Ancient Greek ἐλέφᾱς (eléphās, “elephant, ivory”). Doublet of olifante.

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɐ̃tɨ, (Brazil) -ɐ̃tʃi
• Hyphenation: e‧le‧fan‧te

elefante m (plural elefantes, feminine elefanta or aliá, feminine plural elefantas or aliás)

1. elephant (any mammal of the order Proboscidea)
2. (figurative, derogatory) landwhale (an obese person)

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:gordo

• Papiamentu: elefante

From various Old Spanish forms like elifant, alefant and eleofant, all ultimately from Latin elephantis, from Ancient Greek ἐλέφας (eléphas).

• IPA^(key): /eleˈfante/ [e.leˈfãn̪.t̪e]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ante
• Syllabification: e‧le‧fan‧te

elefante m (plural elefantes, feminine elefanta, feminine plural elefantas)

1. elephant

• → Basque: elefante
• → Chol: elefanti
• → Cebuano: elepante
• → Hiligaynon: elepante
• → Quechua: ilijanti
• → Tagalog: elepante
• → Waray-Waray: elepante

• “elefante”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024