elephantine
/ɛl.əˈfæn.tin/adjective, noun
elephantine is spelled E-L-E-P-H-A-N-T-I-N-E: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 95,993rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, elephantine means “Of, relating to, resembling, or characteristic of elephants” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in elephantine?
| Letters | 11: E-L-E-P-H-A-N-T-I-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 10 million words; the 95,993rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is elephantine?
Elephantine appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 95,993rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce elephantine?
- /ɛl.əˈfæn.tin/
- /ɛl.əˈfæn.taɪn/
- /ˈɛl.ə.fən.tin/
Elephantine has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-elephantine.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of elephantine
- more elephantine comparative
- most elephantine superlative
- elephantines plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does elephantine mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of, relating to, resembling, or characteristic of elephants.
- 2
Very large.
noun
- 1
Any member of the subfamily Elephantinae of elephants and their extinct close relatives.
adjective
- 1
Of, from, or pertaining to Elephantine or the Elephantine people.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Elephantine in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | éléphantin , éléphantesque |
| German | elefantös |
| Portuguese | elefantino |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does elephantine come from?
From Latin elephantīn(us). By surface analysis, elephant + -ine.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).