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mammoth

 - 3 dictionary results

mam⋅moth

[mam-uhth]
–noun
1. any large, elephantlike mammal of the extinct genus Mammuthus, from the Pleistocene Epoch, having hairy skin and ridged molar teeth.
–adjective
2. immensely large; huge; enormous: a mammoth organization.

Origin:
1690–1700; < Russ mam(m)ot (now mámont), first used in reference to remains of the animal found in Siberia; orig. uncert.


2. See gigantic.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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mam·moth   (mām'əth)   
n.  
  1. Any of various large, hairy, extinct elephants of the genus Mammuthus, especially the woolly mammoth.

  2. Something of great size.

adj.  Of enormous size; huge. See Synonyms at enormous.

[Obsolete Russian mamut, mamot.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

mammoth 
1706, from Rus. mammot', probably from Ostyak (a Finno-Ugric language of northern Russia, cf. Finnish maa "earth"). Because the remains were dug from the earth, the animal was believed to root like a mole. The adj. is 1802 in Amer.Eng., in reference to the beasts' enormous size.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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