elephas
belliger impugnans elefantes vulnere sterno
~anti ‥ cognitis majores sunt animantibus
~ans,ylp
medicina de ~anto
dentem ‥ ~antis et ungulam gryphis ‥ exegit
~anto ‥ mus terribilis esse perhibetur
artus non flectit elephas; hinc casus ei ‥ / ‥ perniciosus erit
eque vivens est embrio et adolescens, ~as et formica
missus est in Angliam quidam ~as, quern ‥ rex Francie ‥ dedit ‥ regi Anglorum. nec credimus quod unquam aliquis ~as visus est in Anglia ‥ preter illum
E ante F breviatur, ut ‘elefas’
~antes ‥, animalia monstruosa nimis et non in aspectu graciosa
[cancellarius ] assignavit multa bona ex sano consilio provenire ‥, desiderans quemlibet consulentem in tribus ~anti proprietatibus comparari. ~ans enim est sine felle, inflexibilis et immense memorie
~as abelphio Grece, quod est ‘mens’ [sic. ] Latine Isid. [cf. ]: Graece ‥ mons λόφος dicitur Isid. Etym. XII 2. 14
hic olefans,a olefaunt
ingens ~as terrae ‥ captus est triumphaliter apostolica sagena
de quadam muliere in elefant’, viij s.
de una Judea inolifant
- 1. olifant;
- 2. (Lucr.) (meton.) = elephantiasis.
Tuba Eburnea Rolandi, apud Turpinum cap.
Les cors as roches commencent à charier,
Sonnent cil greille, e cil Olifant cler,
Cil menuel prennent à rechignier.
Alibi :
Cest Oliphan en ma main me baillez,
Il le regarde, et en greille, et en chief,
De six virolles d'or fin estoit liez,
La guige estoit d'un brun paille entailli.
Idem Poeta :
Sonnent buisines, cornent cil Olifant.
MS. :
Plus de cent Oliphant i tonnent la bondie.
Chron. MS. Bertrandi du Guesclincap. 8 :
Sonnoient hautement trompes et olifant.
Alibi :
Là oist-on sonner trompes et Olifant.
Alter Poeta :
La sonnent moieniaux, tropes, et Olyfant.
Laudatur ab Olao Wormio in lib. de Cornu aureo pag. 27. vetus cantilena
Islandica, quam sic Latine vertit : Per viginti milliaria Gallica audiebatur sonus
Olivanti, dum scutorum expugnator cornu inflavit durissimum. Ubi miror, viro
doctissimo non venisse in mentem cornu elephantinum, dum ait, Olivantumnomen fuisse cornu istius. Adde eumdem pag. 29.
♢ acc. -anta Marz, acc. pl. -antas Man.
E´LEPHAS(ἐλέφας, ebur; elephantus, poet., Verg. Georg. 3.26; Aen. 3.464, 6.896). African ivory was known to the ancients, through Phoenician trade, long before the elephant (from Libya in the time of Pheidias: Hermipp. fr. 61 M.; Paus. 1.12, 4). Accordingly, early writers--Homer, Hesiod, Pindar--speak of the material only. Herodotus, indeed, was aware of its origin (4.191; Plin. Nat.8.7), but the Greeks generally only became acquainted with the animal from the Macedonian expeditions into Asia, the Romans with the arrival of Pyrrhus in Italy. Both words ἐλέφας, ebur, probably contain the Egyptian âb (ivory, elephant). (O. Schrader, Linguist. histor. Forsch. zur Handelsgesch. 1.71.)
The use of ivory in the manufacture of small objects of use or ornament, and for purposes of decoration, is earliest in Egypt and Assyria. There have been found, for instance, castanets, stick-handles, hilts and hefts, combs, flutes, sceptres, caskets, statuettes, made of the tusk, and many different articles of furniture inlaid with it. In Homer, besides its employment when carved in mass, it is referred to in connexion with walls, doors, harness, &c., and was then probably attached in plates by nails to a metal or wooden ground. The chest of Kypselos, which was of cedar embellished with ivory reliefs, was probably an example of the latter method; so also perhaps the bedstead of Hippodameia (Paus. 5.17, 2; 5.20-Z2, 1). In later times, true inlaying was resorted to, and almost every kind of furniture, as beds, sofas, thrones, carriages even, enriched with the precious material. It is probable that at the time of the Empire the use of ivory in the arts was much more extensive than at the present day, and the supply abundant.
Among objects not enumerated above may be mentioned masks and writing-tablets. The latter (δέλτοι, libri elephantini), with two, three, or more leaves (diptycha, triptycha, pentaptycha, &c.), were either entirely, or had their covers only, of ivory. Those extant are chiefly of later Roman age. They are of two classes, consularia and ecclesiastica, distinguished by the subjects of the carvings on their covers, the former being figures of consuls at the pompa circensis, missiones, &c., while the latter are of a biblical nature (Müller, Arch. d. Kunst, § 312, n. 3). They were presented to officers and dignitaries to commemorate their appointment. [DIPTYCHA]
For further information, see H. Blümner, Kunstgew. im Alterth. 1.113, &c., 2.64; id. Technol. u. Terminol. d. Gewerbe, &100.2.361-375, where there is a full bibliography. Compare, CHRYSELEPHANTINA
[J.M](ἐλέφας, ebur; elephantus, poet., Verg. Georg. iii. 26; Aen. iii. 464, vi. 896). African ivory was known to the ancients, through Phoenician trade, long before the elephant. Accordingly, early writers—Homer, Hesiod, Pindar—speak of the material only. Herodotus, indeed, was aware of its origin (iv. 191; Plin. H. N. viii. 7), but the Greeks generally only became acquainted with the animal from the Macedonian expeditions into Asia, the Romans from the arrival of Pyrrhus in Italy. Both words—ἐλέφας, ebur—possibly contain the Egyptian âb, “ivory, elephant” (Schrader, Linguist. histor. Forsch. zur Handelsgesch. i. 71.
The use of ivory in the manufacture of small objects of use or ornament, and for purposes of decoration, is earliest in Egypt and Assyria. There have been found, for instance, castanets, stick-handles, hilts and hefts, combs, flutes, sceptres, caskets, statuettes, made of the tusk, and many different articles of furniture inlaid with it. In Homer, besides its employment when carved in mass, it is referred to in connection with walls, doors, harness, etc., and was then probably attached in plates by nails to a metal or wooden ground. In later times true inlaying was resorted to, and almost every kind of furniture, as beds, sofas, thrones, carriages even, enriched with the precious material.
Among objects not enumerated above may be mentioned masks and writing-tablets. The latter (δέλτοι, libri elephantini), with two, three, or more leaves (diptycha, triptycha, pentaptycha, etc.), were either entirely, or had their covers only, of ivory. Those extant are chiefly of the later Roman age. They are of two classes, consularia and ecclesiastica, distinguished by the subjects of the carvings on their covers, the former being figures of consuls at the pompa circensis, missiones, etc., while the latter are of a Biblical nature (Müller, Arch. d. Kunst. 312, n. 3). They were presented to officers and dignitaries to commemorate their appointment. See Diptycha.
For further information see H. Blümner, Technol. u. Terminol. d. Gewerbe, etc., ii. 361-375, where there is a full bibliography; and cf. the article chryselephantina.