ἐλέφᾱς

ἐλέφᾱς, -αντος

Grammatical information: m.

Meaning: `ivory, elefant-tooth' (Il.; cf. Treu Philol. 99, 149ff.), `elefant' (Hdt.), also as the name of a disease = ἐλεφαντίασις, s. Strömberg Theophrastea 193.

Dialectal forms: Myk. e-re-pa, -to, -te \/elephas\/ etc.

Compounds: As 1. member in both meanings, ἐλεφαντό-πους `with ivory feet' (Pl. Com.), ἐλέφᾱς -μάχος `fighting elephants' (Str.).

Derivatives: Diminut. ἐλεφαντίσκιον `young elephant' (Ael.); adj. ἐλεφάντινος `of ivory' (Alc., Att.), -ίνεος `id.' (inscr.; on the formation Chantr. Form. 203), ἐλεφάντ-ειος `belonging to an elephant' (Dsc., Opp.), -ώδης `elephant-like' (Mediz.), -ιωδής `suffering from eleph.' (medic.); subst. ἐλεφαντιστής `elephant-driver' (Arist.), also `shield from elephant-skin' (App.; example?), ἐλεφαντεύς `ivory-worker' (pap.). Denomin. ἐλεφαντ-ιάω `suffer from eleph.' (Phld., medic.) with -ίασις, also -ιασμός (EM); -όω `with ivory inlays' with -ωτός (nscr.).

Origin: LW [a loanword which is (probably) not of Pre-Greek origin] Egypt.

Etymology: Like Lat. ebur ἐλέφας is a foreigm word. The final (except the ντ-suffix) recalls like Lat. eb-ur an Egypt. āb(u), Copt. εβ(ο)υ `elephant, ivory', Skt. íbha- `elephant'; the begin recurs in Hamit. eḷu `elephant' (from where through Egypt. [p- Art.] Pers. pīl, Arab. fīl); details remain unclear. - From ἐλέφας Lat. elephās, elephantus, from there the Germanic and Romance forms. W.-Hofmann s. ebur, Lokotsch Et. Wb. d. europ. Wörter orient. Ursprungs Nr. 605, Mayrhofer Wb. s. íbhaḥ², Feist Vgl. Wb. d. got. Spr. s. ulbandus. - Wrong Kretschmer WienAkAnz. 1951 : 21, 307ff.: to ἐλεφαίρομαι as "destroyer" (orig. connected with the Mammoth), s. Mayrhofer Stud. z. idg. Grundsprache 44f.

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