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Glite Dictionary
Babar the Elephant

Babar the Elephant

3.3
An imaginary elephant who becomes king and has adventures in children's books
  • proper noun
  • Literature
translation icon : Babar el Elefante
  • In the books, Babar the Elephant becomes king of the elephants and builds a city.

Examples

  • The story of Babar the Elephant was originally written in French before being translated into many languages.

  • Babar the Elephant teaches children valuable lessons.

  • Babar the Elephant has delighted generations of children with his adventurous tales and wise leadership.

  • I love reading about Babar the Elephant!

  • Babar the Elephant has delighted generations of children with his adventurous tales and royal status.

  • In the stories, Babar the Elephant encounters various challenges and learns important life lessons.

  • The beloved character of Babar the Elephant was introduced to young readers in the early 20th century.

Synonyms

Babar
vsBabar the Elephant
  • Literature
2 5.8

An elephant from French children's stories who becomes a king and has many adventures

is the same character but named in a longer fuller form

Surface Forms

Babar the Elephant main

Morphology

Babar + the + elephant

The phrase is compositionally built from a proper name plus a noun: a learner who knows 'elephant' and the determiner 'the' will infer this refers to an elephant called Babar. Specifics about Babar being a fictional book character or his royal status are world knowledge beyond the words, but the basic referential meaning is transparently derivable from the constituents.

Etymology

Babar the Elephant began as a little tale a mother told her children about a young elephant who leaves the jungle, goes to the 'city', learns human ways and even wears a suit. The artist Jean de Brunhoff drew that story into books, so Babar the Elephant became the famous elephant who has adventures and later becomes a 'king'.