elefant (Danish)
Where does "elefant" come from?
The Danish word 'elefant' entered the language from Latin 'elephantus', which traces back to the Ancient Greek 'eléphās'[1][2]. In Danish, this classical borrowing eventually replaced the earlier native terms, namely Old Danish 'fil' and Old Norse 'fíll'[1]. The Greek noun itself is likely borrowed from Egyptian 'ꜣbw'[3], a term that has been traced further back to Proto-Afroasiatic '*leb-'[4].
Open questions
- The derivation of Ancient Greek 'eléphās' from Egyptian 'ꜣbw' is probable rather than definitively established. [3]
- The ultimate origin of Egyptian 'ꜣbw' relies on a reconstructed Proto-Afroasiatic form '*leb-' and an uncertain semantic connection to a word meaning fingernail. [4]
Full etymology tree
- elefant (Danish), 'elephant'
- borrowed elephantus (Latin), 'An elephant.'
- borrowed ἐλέφας (eléphas) (Ancient Greek), 'elephant'
- borrowed ꜣbw (Egyptian), 'elephant'
- derived *leb- (Proto-Afroasiatic)
- borrowed ꜣbw (Egyptian), 'elephant'
- borrowed ἐλέφας (eléphas) (Ancient Greek), 'elephant'
- borrowed elephantus (Latin), 'An elephant.'
Ancestors
- elephantus (Latin)
- ἐλέφας (Ancient Greek)
Cognates and doublets
- fíll (Old Norse)
Sources
- elefant (Danish) - Wiktionary
- elephantus (Latin) - Wiktionary
- ἐλέφας (eléphas) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- ꜣbw (Egyptian) - Wiktionary
Updated October 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris