Word of the Day – Chryselephantine

Chryselephantine (adj)

kris-el-ef-an-tin

made of or overlaid with gold and ivory, as certain objects made in ancient Greece.

Chryselephantine is based on Ancient Greek chrȳsós, “gold,” and eléphās, “elephant.” Because of its similarity to Biblical Hebrew kharúts, “gold,” chrȳsós may have been borrowed from a Semitic language such as Phoenician.

Example sentences

“The chryselephantine statue glistened in the sunlight streaming through the temple.”