English Explanatory Dictionary

mammoth

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. 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.
  2. A mastodon.
  3. Something very large of its kind.
  4. A kind of large donkey.
adj
  1. Comparable to a mammoth in its size; very large, huge, gigantic.

Pronunciation

/ˈmæməθ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mammoth.wav

Word forms

mammoth mammoths more mammoth most mammoth

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.

Synonyms

colossal enormous gigantic huge titanic

Derived words

Columbian mammoth mammophant mammothlike mammothly steppe mammoth weremammoth woolly mammoth wooly mammoth mammoth steppe mammoth powder mammoth tree mammoth-wise
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