elephant 
1875 
lulu-. Kli-phanta lire tin- lai ui-st quadruped* nt present ex- elephant-fish (fl'e-fant-fish), w. A name of the 
Istlng. Their tu.ks .iH-oi i; ,,..,t vain,- : ivory, furnishing sml ,i lern <.himra, "CoUorhynchus antarcticus: 
an important article of commerce, In Africa especially, and 
so called 011 account of the prolongation of the 
Aftir.m Flcptiant (Eltfttatai Loxoettm a/Hfanus}. 
occasioning the destruction of (treat nnniliers of these ani- 
mals. Ten species of fossil elephants have been described, 
of which the best-known is the hairy mammoth, K. vrimi- 
genius. The mastodons are nearly related to elephants, 
but form a separate subfamily Maittodimtitue (which see). 
Than he returned toward hym with his betell in his 
himilt', and put his targe hym he-forn that was of the bon 
of an Olyfaunte. Merlin (E. E. T. 8.), ii. 338. 
The castelles . . . that craftily ben sett upon the oli- 
fantex bakkes. Mandeeille, Travels, p. 191. 
He is as valiant as the lion, churlish as the bear, slow 
as the elephant. Shale., T. and C., i. 2. 
2. Figuratively, a burdensome or perplexing 
possession or charge ; something that one does 
not know what to do with or how to get rid 
of: as, to have an elephant on one's hands ; he 
found his great house very much of an elephant. 
3. Ivory; the tusk of the elephant. [Poeti- 
cal.] 
High o'er the gate, in elephant and gold, 
The crowd shall Cicsar's Indian war behold. 
Dryden, tr. of Virgil's Oeorglcs. 
4. A drawing- or writing-paper measuring in 
America 22 X 27 inches A white elephant, a 
possession or a dignity more troublesome and costly than 
profitable : in allusion to the rare and highly venerated 
white elephants of the East Indies, which must be kept 
in royal state, and which are said to be sometimes pre- 
sented by the King of Slam to courtiers whom he desires 
to ruin. 
Bazaine Ittthought him of his master's natural anxiety 
to know the situation. That master was the white ele- 
phant of Bazalne and the army. 
Arch. Forbes, Souvenirs of some Continents, p. 58. 
Double elephant, a drawing- or writing-paper measur- 
ing In England 20} or 27 x 40 inches, and in America 
(where it is also called double royal) 28 X 40 inches. 
Elephant hawk-moth, xeehniric-uwtlt. Order of the 
White Elephant, a Danish order alleged to lie of great 
antiquity. IU foundation, however, is specifically as- 
cribed to Christian I.. 1462, and Its reorganization to 
Christian V.. lisa It is limited to SO knights besides the 
UK mben of the royal family, and no person can l? a knight 
who is not previously a member of the order of the Dane- 
brog. The collar of the order is composed alternately of 
elephants and embattled towers. The badge is an ele- 
phant bearing on his back a tower, and on his head a driver 
dressed like a Hindu. The ribbon to which the badge is 
attached on ordinary occasions is sky-blue. Rogue ele- 
phant, an elephant of ungovernably bail temper, which 
lives alone or apart from the herd, and is regarded as 
particularly dangerous. To see or to show the ele- 
phant, to see or exhibit something strange or wonderful ; 
especially, to see for the nrst time, or exhibit to a stran- 
ger, the sights ami scenes of a great city (often implying 
MOM of a low or disreputable kind). (Slang, I". 8.J 
elephant-apple (el'e-faiit-ap'l), n. The wood- 
apple of India, Ferouiii clrphantum, a large ru- 
taceous tree allied to the orange, and bearing 
an orange-like fruit. The pulp of the fruit is 
acid, and is made into a jelly. 
elephant-beetle (ere-fant-be'tl), n. 1. A 
name of several lamellicorn scarabwoid beetles 
of enormous size. Specifically (a) Any species of 
thecetonian genus GWiViMi/ji. See ffol lath-bee tie. (d) Any 
species of either of the genera Dtmajttes and Megasoma. 
M. elephaa is a large American species. Some of the ele- 
phant-beetles, as linn'--', In rt-ntfn of tropical America, 
attain a total length of 6 inches, but of this the long pro- 
thoracic horn makes about half. See cut under Uerctdes- 
beetle. 
2. One of the rhynchophorous beetles or wee- 
vils: so called from the long snout or proboscis. 
elephant-bird (el'e-fant-berd), w. Afossil bird 
of Madagascar, of tie genus ^Epyornis (which 
see). 
elephant-creeper (el'o-fant-kre'per), n. The 
Argnrriii s/i-ii>nii, a, coiivolvulaceous woody 
climber of India, reaching the tops of the tall- 
est trees. Its leaves are white-tomentose b<-m-atb. ami 
its deep-rose-colored flowers are borne in axillary cynics. 
The leaves are need for poultices and in various cutaneous 
diseases. 
elephanter (el-Wan'ter), . A heavy periodi- 
cal rain at Bombay. 
Elephant-fish (C 
snout, which has a peculiar proboscis-like ap- 
pendage, serving as a prehensile organ, it is an 
Inhabitant of the southern Pacific and the vicinity of the 
i apt of (iood Hope, and is sometimes eaten. 
elephant-grass (el'e-fant-gras), n. An East 
Indian bur-reed, Typha elephantina, the pollen 
of which is made into bread by the natives of 
Sind. 
elephantiac (el-e-fan'ti-ak), a. [< L. elephan- 
tiacus, (. elephantiasis: see elephantiasis.} Of 
the nature of or affected with elephantiasis. 
elephantiasis (el'e-fan-tj'a-sis), n. F_< L. ele- 
phantiasis, < Gr. i'MQavriaotf, a skin-disease, so 
called from its giving the skin the appearance of 
an elephant's hide, <<W^af (tfafyavr-), elephant : 
see elephant.} A name given to several forms 
of skin-disease, (a) Elephantiasis Arabura, or pachy- 
dermia. See ixtchydeniiia. (6) Elephantiasis Gnecorum, 
or leprosy. See lejtra. 
elephantid (el-e-fan'tid), n. A proboscidean 
mammal of the family Elephantulte, as an ele- 
phant, mammoth, or mastodon. 
Elephantidae (el-e-fan'ti-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Elephan (-phant-) 4- -idle.'] Afamilyof the order 
Proboxcidea, containing the livingelephants and 
the fossil mammoths and mastodons. See mam- 
moth, mastodon. These huge pachyderms have the 
upper Incisors enormously developed as cylindro-conic 
tusks, projecting from the mouth and growing indefinitely ; 
the lower incisors small or null, the molars successively 
displacing one another from behind forward, so that no 
premolars replace the deciduous teeth, and never more 
than one or two molars in functional position at once in 
either jaw ; and the grinding surfaces with several trans- 
verse ridges alternating with cement-valleys. The skull is 
very high in front, to accommodate the roots of the tusks, 
there being a great development of diploic structure. 
The family is divided Into two subfamilies, Elejitiantiiuf 
and MastodoHtince. See cuts under elephant and Elephan- 
Hnte. 
Elephantinse (el'e-fan-ti'ne), n. pi. [NL., < 
Elephas (-pliant-) + -in<B.] The typical sub- 
family of the Elephantidfe, containing the liv- 
ing elephants and the extinct mammoths. They 
have the isomerous as distinguished from the hypisome- 
Eleusinia 
3. Made or consisting of ivory. See ehryxrle- 
phanliiic. Elephantine book*, in Kin. ant,, 
tain book* conslstmg(originally)of Ivory tablet!, In which 
were registered the transactions of the senate, mi<rltru-, 
emperors, and generals. - Elephantine epoch, in yeol. 
the periiMl durint,' which there wits a preponderance of 
large pachyderms. 
elephant-leg (ere-fant-leg), n. Pachydermia 
ofthelrg; Barbados leg. Soi- imi-liyiltrniiii. 
elephant-mouse (el'e-fant-inous), . Same as 
i f' I'lnl n f-sli i'< II'. 
elephantoid (el--fan'toid), a. and n. [< Gr. 
t//*of (ifefavT-),' elephant, + eJoof, form.] I. 
a. Having the form of an elephant. 
II. H. An elephantid. 
elephantoidal (el'e-fan-toi'dal), a. Same as 
Skeleton and Outline of African Elephant (Etffhasor Laxotton 
qfricanus). 
/r. frontal ; ma, mandible; ma', malar; Ji, "finger" at end of 
trunk; C, cervical vertebne; D. dorsal vertebrae; fe, pelvis; jc, 
scapula ; it, sternum ; hn, humerus; W.ulna; ra, radius; '*,inet.i- 
carpus ;/t, femur; faf, patella; ltt>, tibia; fib, fibula; met, meta- 
tarsus. 
rous or anisomerous dentition, the transverse ridges of the 
molars being three to five the same on all the teeth, con- 
timmns, and the valleys filled with cement. The genera 
"/tax, Loxodttn, and Strrtodon, the last extinct, 
elephantine (el-f-fan'tin), a. [= F. elephan- 
tin = Sp. It. elcftintino = Pg. elephantino, < L. 
elephanttnus, elephantine, also of ivory, < Gr. 
efa<p6vrivoc., of ivory, <f?.tyaf(f/edavr-), elephant, 
ivory: see elephant.] 1. Pertaining to the ele- 
phant ; resembling an elephant. 
With tnrcoises divinely blue 
(Though doubts arise where first they grew, 
whether chaste elephantine bone 
By min'rals ting'd, or native stone). 
If*. Jones, The Enchanted Fruit. 
Hence 2. Elephant-like; huge; immense; 
heavy; clumsy: as, he was of elephantine pro- 
portions; elephantine movements. 
But what insolent familiar durst have mated Thomas 
Coventry ? whose person was a quadrate, his step massy 
and elephantine. Lamb, Old Benchers. 
Elephantopus (el-e-fan'to-pus), . [NL., < Gr. 
efafavrdiruvf, ivory-footed (NL. taken in sense 
of 'elephant's-foot'), < iU<pa{ (ifafavr-), ele- 
phant, ivory.] 1. A genus of herbaceous ver- 
noniaceous composites of America, of a dozen 
species, one of which (/.'. ncaber) is a common 
weed in most tropical countries. Three species 
occur within the United States. Some Brazilian specie* 
are reputed to have medicinal properties. 
2. A genus of acalephs. Lisson, 1843. 
elephantous (el-e-fan'tus), a. [< elephan- 
t(iasin) + -mis."] Pertaining to or of the nature 
of elephantiasis: as, the elephantous group of 
specific inflammations. Quain, Med. Diet., p. 
1432. 
elephant-seal (el'e-fant-sel), w. Same as - 
elephant. 
elephant's-ear (el'e-fants-er), . A common 
name for plants of tne 'genus Begonia, from the 
form of their leaves. 
elephant's-foot (el'e-fants-fut), n. 1. A book- 
name for species of ' El'ephantopus, of which the 
word is a translation. 2. Testudinaria ele- 
phantipes, a plant of the natural order Diosco- 
reacea. 
elephant-shrew (el'e-fant-shre), n. A small 
mouse-like saltatorial insectivorous quadruped 
of Africa 5 one 
of the animals 
of the family 
Macroscelida: 
or Bhynchocyo- 
nillce. In super- 
ficial aspect they 
resemble some of 
the jumping mii-t- 
or kangaroo-mice, 
especially of the 
American genera 
Zapitt and Difio- 
doinyK, having long 
hind limbs, well- 
developed ears, and the snout so 
semble a proboscis, whence the 
/'fin/if- i/i'inv and prohtmcig'rat. 
elephant's-tusk (el'e-fants-tusk), n. A mol- 
lusk, Jtentalium arcuatuni, one of the tooth- 
shells. 
Elephas (el'e-fas), . [NL., < L. elephag, < Gr. 
f?.f^af, elephant: see elephant.'] The typical 
genus of elephants, formerly embracing both 
the living species, or genera, now sometimes 
restricted to the type represented by the Asi- 
atic elephant, Elephas indifus. In this restrict- 
ed sense it is the same as Elasmodon and Euele- 
phas. See cuts under elephant. 
Elettaria (el-e-ta'ri-S), n. [NL.] An East 
Indian genus of scitamineous plants, of only 
one or two species. E. Cardamomum furnishes 
the cardamom-seeds of commerce. See carda- 
mom. 
Eleusine (el-u-si'ne), w. [NL., appar. in refer- 
ence to Eleuxis (f): see Elrusinian.] A genus 
of grasses, belonging to the tribe Chtoridece, 
having several linear spikes digitate at the sum- 
mit of the culm. The species are natives of the warm- 
er parts of the glol>e, and several are cultivated for their 
grain. In the Kast an Indian species, K. eoraeana (known 
tanatchnee, nayla ragee, mand, and murira), is cultivated 
as a corn, from which the Tibetans make a weak beer. E. 
ttricta is also a productive grain, and the Abyssinian grain 
tocnsso is the product of another species, E. Tonuo. K. 
Indica, an annual species, is now naturalized in most warm 
countries, and is good for grazing and soiling, and as 
hay. 
Eleusinia (el-u-sin'i-8), n. pi. [L., < Gr. 'EAv 
aivia, neut. pi. of 'Efavaiviof, pertaining to Eleu- 
sis. vE/futjicCEi'.FMT/v-), Eleusis.] In Gr.antiq., 
the famous Athenian mysteries and festival of 
Eleusis, symbolizing the various phases of hu- 
man life in the light of philosophic views as 
to its eternity, and honoring Demeter (Ceres), 
Cora (Proserpina), and the local Attic divinity 
lacchos ("loisjor) as the especial protectors of 
agriculture and of all fruit fulness, and the guar- 
dians of Athens. Eleusinia, introduced from Athens, 
Elephant^hrew f Mac roscelMfs ty^t'cus). 
ng and sharp as to re- 
mr. Also called - / - 
