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African elephant

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Africa Elephant
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el⋅e⋅phant

  [el-uh-fuhnt]
–noun, plural -phants, (especially collectively) -phant for 1.
1. either of two large, five-toed pachyderms of the family Elephantidae, characterized by a long, prehensile trunk formed of the nose and upper lip, including Loxodonta africana (African elephant), with enormous flapping ears, two fingerlike projections at the end of the trunk, and ivory tusks, and Elephas maximus (Indian elephant), with smaller ears, one projection at the end of the trunk, and ivory tusks almost exclusively in males: L. africana is threatened; E. maximus is endangered.
2. a representation of this animal, used in the U.S. since 1874 as the emblem of the Republican party.
3. white elephant.
4. Chiefly British. a size of drawing or writing paper, 23 × 28 in. (58 × 71 cm).

Origin:
1250–1300; ME (< AF) < L elephantus < Gk elephant- (s. of eléphās) elephant; r. ME olifaunt < AF < VL *olifantus, for L elephantus (with regular L o from e before dark l)

Related forms:
el⋅e⋅phan⋅toid, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Cultural Dictionary

elephant

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

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

elephant 
c.1300, olyfaunt, from O.Fr. oliphant, from L. elephantus, from Gk. elephas (gen. elephantos) "elephant, ivory," probably from a non-I.E. language, likely via Phoenician (cf. Hamitic elu "elephant," source of the word for it in many Sem. languages, or possibly from Skt. ibhah "elephant"). Re-spelled after 1550 on L. model. As an emblem of the Republican Party in U.S. politics, 1860. White elephant (1851) supposedly arose from the practice of the King of Siam of presenting one of the sacred albino elephants to a courtier who had fallen from favor; the gift was a great honor, but the cost of proper upkeep of one was ruinous. To see the elephant "be acquainted with life, gain knowledge by experience" is an Amer.Eng. colloquialism from 1835.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

elephant

An institutional investor that controls a substantial amount of funds and that makes investment decisions that can have a major impact on a security's market price.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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