jumbo
UK /ˈd͡ʒʌmbəʊ/ · US /ˈd͡ʒʌmboʊ/ adjective, noun, proper noun
Forms jumbos
- adjective Especially large or powerful. “a jumbo helping”
- noun An especially large or powerful person, animal, or thing.
- noun (India, Kenya) An elephant.
- noun (engineering) A platform-mounted machine for drilling rock.
- noun (British English) A large airplane, such as those used for intercontinental travel.
- noun (Western Pennsylvania) Synonym of bologna (“type of meat”).
- noun A wide roll of machine-trimmed paper, ready to be cut into smaller widths.
- proper noun A nickname for one or that of a large size
- proper noun A nickname for one or that of a small size
- proper noun A traditional animal name for an elephant
Synonyms
drilling jumbo bologna Jupiter-mass binary object elephantine gargantuan giant
Etymology
From Jumbo (1860–1885), the name given to a large African elephant from East Africa that was purchased in 1882 by American showman P. T. Barnum (1810–1891) for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Compare Swahili jambo (“matter, thing”) and jumbe (“chief, headman”).
From (mumbo) jumbo.
From jumbo, from the 19th-century elephant, Jumbo, from Swahili jumbe (“chief”) jambo (“thing”)
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “jumbo”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details