Elephantine

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ɛl.əˈfæn.tin/

Definitions

1. Extremely large, clumsy, or ponderous in a way that resembles the massive size and ungainly movement of an elephant
2. Characterized by a slow, laborious quality combined with immense scale that evokes the unwieldy nature of the largest land mammal
3. Marked by an awkward heaviness and lack of grace despite impressive dimensions, like a creature too massive for nimble motion

Etymology: The word "elephant" arrived in English from Old French, and "elephantine" builds on the Latin adjective "elephantinus," meaning "of an elephant" or "made of ivory." That older sense survives in the idea of ivory itself: Latin "elephas" was the word for the animal and also for its tusks, so an object of elephant material was simply "elephantine." The English adjective kept the physical, literal flavour for a while before coming to describe bulk and heaviness. Its modern sense, "very large and clumsy," grew out of that sense of sheer size. The word is a straightforward formation: "elephant" plus the suffix "-ine," which means "relating to" or "resembling." Speakers applied it to anything with an elephant's massive, ponderous quality, whether a bureaucracy, a prose style, or a sluggish body.

Synonyms: gigantic, huge, massive, colossal, enormous

Antonyms: tiny, small, petite, minuscule, little