chryselephantine
Feb. 10th, 2021 07:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordchryselephantine (kris-el-uh-FAN-tin) - adj., made of or covered with gold and ivory.
As in certain statues, especially of the god(desse)s, in ancient Greece. Adopted in the 1820s directly from Ancient Greek khrūselephántinos, compound of khrūsós, gold + elephántinos, of ivory -- because our name for the animal comes from the Greek word for the material of its tusks (itself probably from Egyptian, or possibly a Berber language from the coast west of the Nile).
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
As in certain statues, especially of the god(desse)s, in ancient Greece. Adopted in the 1820s directly from Ancient Greek khrūselephántinos, compound of khrūsós, gold + elephántinos, of ivory -- because our name for the animal comes from the Greek word for the material of its tusks (itself probably from Egyptian, or possibly a Berber language from the coast west of the Nile).
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
