mammoth

Meanings

Noun

• 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.
• A mastodon.
• Something very large of its kind.

Adjective

• Comparable to a mammoth in its size; very large, huge, gigantic.

Related

Similar words

• colossal, enormous, gigantic, huge, titanic

Origin

• From obsolete Russian ма́мант, modern ма́монт, probably from a language, such as Proto-Mansi ("earth-horn"). Possibly influenced by behemoth.
• The Mansi word could mean "earth stag," from Northern Mansi ма̄ ("earth") and а̄ньт. Adjectival use was popularized in the early 1800s by references to the Cheshire Mammoth Cheese presented to American paleontologist and president Thomas Jefferson.