Mammuthus
/məˈmjuːθəs/noun
A zoological genus comprising mammoths, including the woolly mammoth.
Did you know?The name ultimately passed into European languages through Russian мамонт (mamont), whose deeper origin remains uncertain and may involve Siberian or Tatar languages.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-18th Century
Russian
мамонт (mamont)
“Mammoth; the enormous animal whose remains were found in Siberia”
17th Century
Western European usage
mammont
“A mammoth, borrowed from Russian accounts of Siberian fossils”
18th Century
French
mammouth
“Mammoth; an extinct elephant-like animal”
1799
New Latin
Mammuthus
“Taxonomic genus name formed from the European word for mammoth”
Modern English
English
mammoth
“A mammoth, especially a member of the genus Mammuthus”