Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
sea elephant

sea elephant

5.7
A very large seal with a long nose that lives in cold oceans
  • noun
  • /siː ˈɛlɪfənt/
translation icon : elefante marino
  • The massive sea elephant hauled itself onto the shore to rest among the rocks.

Examples

  • Researchers tracked the migration patterns of the sea elephant using satellite tags.

  • A male sea elephant can reach weights of up to 4,000 kilograms during mating season.

  • The sea elephant is known for its large size.

  • Many sea elephants migrate to warmer waters in winter.

  • A male sea elephant can weigh over 4,000 kilograms during mating season, making it one of the largest seal species.

  • Researchers observed a sea elephant resting on the beach after its long migration across the ocean.

  • The sea elephant uses its trunk-like snout to dig in the sand for food when foraging.

Synonyms

seal
vssea elephant
108 1.0

A large sea mammal with flippers that lives near cold coasts

is a specific large type with a male trunk-like snout not the general group
elephant seal
vssea elephant
4 4.2

A very large seal with a nose like an elephant's trunk that lives on beaches

has identical meaning and is an alternate common name
Mirounga
vssea elephant
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of very large sea mammals called elephant seals

is the common name used instead of the scientific genus

Surface Forms

sea elephant singular
sea elephants plural

Morphology

sea + elephant

The compound directly combines 'sea' (marine) with 'elephant' (a large land mammal), so the phrase denotes a sea-dwelling animal resembling an elephant; this compositional logic makes the referent predictable. Such naming patterns (e.g., 'elephant seal' / equivalents in other languages) are cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Sea elephant comes from sailors who saw very large seals with long, trunk-like noses and heavy bodies and thought they looked like an elephant at sea. That's why the name now means the large seal species also called an 'elephant seal'.