mammoth
/ˈmæməθ/ noun, adjective
Forms mammoths
- noun Any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus, of large, usually hairy, elephant-like mammals with long curved tusks and an inclined back, which became extinct with the last retreat of ice age glaciers during the late Pleistocene period, and are known from fossils, frozen carcasses, and Paleolithic cave paintings found in North America and Eurasia.
- noun (obsolete) A mastodon.
- noun (figuratively) Something very large of its kind.
- noun A kind of large donkey.
- adjective Comparable to a mammoth in its size; very large, huge, gigantic.
Synonyms
Etymology
From obsolete Russian ма́мант (mámant), modern ма́монт (mámont), probably from a Uralic word, such as Proto-Mansi *mān-oŋt (“earth horn”). Possibly influenced by behemoth.
Adjectival use was popularized in the early 1800s by references to the Cheshire Mammoth Cheese presented to American paleontologist and president Thomas Jefferson.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An extinct, hairy, maned elephant (Elephas primigenius), of enormous size, remains of which are found in the northern parts of both continents. The last of the race, in Europe, were coeval with prehistoric man.
- adjective Resembling the mammoth in size; very large; gigantic; as, a mammoth ox.
Etymology [Russ. mâmont, mámant, fr. Tartar mamma the earth. Certain Tartar races, the Tungooses and Yakoots, believed that the mammoth worked its way in the earth like a mole.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mammoth”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details