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Glite Dictionary
Indian elephant

Indian elephant

1 2.8
An Asian elephant that lives in India and nearby countries with smaller ears and tusks, especially in males
  • noun
  • /ˈɪndiən ˈɛlɪfənt/
translation icon : elefante indio
  • The Indian elephant is known for its smaller ears compared to its African relatives.

Examples

  • The Indian elephant does not fear the mosquito.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • These Indian elephants were physically terrifying and on the battlefield trampled the opposing infantry in stampede charges.

    Academic text (2010)

  • This is the beautiful yet troubling story of 'Queenie,' an Indian elephant who was transported to the Melbourne Zoo in 1905 and spent almost 40 years entertaining visitors, giving rides, and being a regular spectacle for visitors.

    Blog text (11)

  • Many tourists visit India to see the majestic Indian elephant in its natural habitat.

  • During festivals, the Indian elephant is often decorated and paraded through the streets.

Surface Forms

Indian elephant singular
Indian elephants plural

Morphology

Indian + elephant

The meaning 'an elephant from India' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'Indian' (pertaining to India) and 'elephant' (a large herbivore). This modifier + noun compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE's meaning (the subspecies details are additional, not required to understand the core sense).

Etymology

The noun Indian elephant comes from a simple idea: the word Indian shows where this elephant lives, in India and nearby countries. Because this type of elephant has smaller ears and tusks mainly in males, people use Indian elephant to mean that particular 'Asian elephant'.