Elephantine \El`e*phan"tine\, a. [L. elephantinus of ivory, Gr.
   ?: cf. F. ['e]l['e]phantin.]
   Pertaining to the elephant, or resembling an elephant
   (commonly, in size); hence, huge; immense; heavy; as, of
   elephantine proportions; an elephantine step or tread.
   
[1913 Webster]


   {Elephantine epoch} (Geol.), the epoch distinguished by the
      existence of large pachyderms. --Mantell.

   {Elephantine tortoise} (Zo["o]l.), a huge land tortoise;
      esp., {Testudo elephantina}, from islands in the Indian
      Ocean; and {T. elephantopus}, from the Galapagos Islands.
      Elephantoid

elephantine
     adj : of great mass; huge and bulky; "a jumbo jet"; "jumbo shrimp"
           [syn: {gargantuan}, {giant}, {jumbo}]

118 Moby Thesaurus words for "elephantine":
   Atlantean, Brobdingnagian, Cyclopean, Gargantuan, Herculean,
   Homeric, Latinate, abysmal, arid, astronomic, awkward, barren,
   blah, blank, bloodless, bombastic, bulky, characterless, clumsy,
   cold, colorless, colossal, cramped, cumbersome, cumbrous, dead,
   dismal, draggy, drearisome, dreary, dry, dryasdust, dull, dusty,
   effete, elephantlike, empty, enormous, epic, etiolated, fade, flat,
   forced, formal, gargantuan, giant, giantlike, gigantic, graceless,
   guinde, halting, heavy, heavy-handed, heroic, ho-hum, hollow, huge,
   hulking, hulky, immense, inane, inexcitable, infinite, inkhorn,
   insipid, jejune, jumbo, labored, leaden, lifeless, low-spirited,
   lubberly, lumbering, lumpish, lumpy, maladroit, mammoth, massive,
   massy, mighty, monster, monstrous, monumental, mountainous, pale,
   pallid, pedestrian, plodding, pointless, poky, pompous, ponderous,
   prodigious, profound, sesquipedalian, slow, solemn, spiritless,
   sterile, stiff, stilted, stodgy, stuffy, stupendous, superficial,
   tasteless, tedious, titanic, towering, tremendous, turgid,
   ungraceful, uninspired, unlively, unwieldy, vapid, vast, wooden

elephantine adj. Used of programs or systems that are both conspicuous
   {hog}s (owing perhaps to poor design founded on {brute force and  ignorance}) and exceedingly {hairy} in source form. An elephantine
   program may be functional and even friendly, but (as in the old joke
   about being in bed with an elephant) it's tough to have around all the
   same (and, like a pachyderm, difficult to maintain). In extreme cases,
   hackers have been known to make trumpeting sounds or perform expressive
   proboscatory mime at the mention of the offending program. Usage:
   semi-humorous. Compare `has the elephant nature' and the somewhat more
   pejorative {monstrosity}. See also {second-system effect} and {baroque}.

elephantine
     
        Used of programs or systems that are both conspicuous {hog}s
        (owing perhaps to poor design founded on {brute force and  ignorance}) and exceedingly {hairy} in source form.  An
        elephantine program may be functional and even friendly, but
        (as in the old joke about being in bed with an elephant) it's
        tough to have around all the same (and, like a pachyderm,
        difficult to maintain).  In extreme cases, hackers have been
        known to make trumpeting sounds or perform expressive
        proboscatory mime at the mention of the offending program.
        Usage: semi-humorous.  Compare "has the elephant nature" and
        the somewhat more pejorative monstrosity.  See also
        {second-system effect} and {baroque}.
     
        [{Jargon File}]