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Glite Dictionary
💸 An unwanted burden 🐘 A rare animal
white elephant

white elephant

1 9.4
A rare pale elephant that people in some parts of Asia consider sacred
  • noun
  • /ˈwaɪt ˈɛlɪfənt/
translation icon : elefante blanco
  • The king received a white elephant as a gift from a neighboring kingdom.

Examples

  • The temple is famous for housing a revered white elephant said to bring good fortune.

  • In ancient Siam, a white elephant was a highly prized and sacred animal.

  • Legend tells of a king who would gift a white elephant to courtiers he wished to ruin.

  • In Thailand, a white elephant symbolizes prosperity and good fortune.

  • In many cultures, the white elephant is revered as a symbol of purity and spiritual significance.

  • The white elephant is often featured in religious ceremonies as a sacred and majestic animal.

  • During the festival, the locals adorned the white elephant with flowers and jewels to honor its importance.

Surface Forms

white elephant singular
white elephants plural

Morphology

white + elephant

The literal constituents 'white' (a color) and 'elephant' (an animal) do not transparently yield the meaning 'an expensive, burdensome possession'; the idiomatic sense derives from a culturally specific historical metaphor (sacred/rare white elephants that cost a lot to maintain). A B1 learner who knows both words but has not encountered the expression would be unlikely to infer this figurative meaning, so it is opaque.

Etymology

White elephant was the name for a rare, albino elephant that was treated as sacred in parts of East Asia; kings and temples kept these animals as special symbols and did not use them for work, so they were admired and protected.