elephantine

/ɛl.əˈfæn.tin/

//ɛl.əˈfæn.tin// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"elephantine" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“elephantine” is uncommon English (frequency #95,934 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#95,934
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of, relating to, resembling, or characteristic of elephants.

Corpus desk

Index EN-elephantine · elephantine · English

elephantine · rank #95,934 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #95,934
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH electrum

Nearest frequency peer: electrum (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “elephantine”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “elephantine” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for elephantine
PropertyValue
Headwordelephantine
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ɛl.əˈfæn.tin/
Letters11
Frequency rank#95,934
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “elephantine” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).elephantinefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “electrum” (#95,933), “emasculate” (#95,935), “emasculation” (#95,936). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “elephantine” is #95,934. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

elephantine is uncommon English at frequency #95,934 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ɛl.əˈfæn.tin/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for elephantine, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin elephantīn(us). By surface analysis, elephant + -ine. The correct English form is elephantine, spelled E-L-E-P-H-A-N-T-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of, relating to, resembling, or characteristic of elephants.
  2. 2
    Very large.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how elephantine appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The scene around them was currently plunged into gloom. Dark mists swirled round them and elephantine shapes lurked indistinctly in the shadows.
  2. This last summer Hanecki had captured Lenin’s imagination with his plans to found a trading company of his own in Europe, or take a partnership in some existing firm and make guaranteed monthly remittances to the Party out of his profits. This was not a Russian pipe dream: every move had been worked out with impressive precision. Kuba hadn’t thought of it…

Etymology

From Latin elephantīn(us). By surface analysis, elephant + -ine.

This word in other languages

éléphantin(Français)elefantös(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "elephantine"?
"elephantine" is spelled E-L-E-P-H-A-N-T-I-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɛl.əˈfæn.tin/.
What does "elephantine" mean?
As an adjective, "elephantine" means: Of, relating to, resembling, or characteristic of elephants.
How do you pronounce "elephantine"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "elephantine" is /ɛl.əˈfæn.tin/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "elephantine"?
From Latin elephantīn(us). By surface analysis, elephant + -ine. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "elephantine", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

earthmoving#95,928coterminous#95,855conurbation#95,851contracture#95,849

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list