Link Centre Dictionary

jumbo

UK/ˈd͡ʒʌmbəʊ/ US/ˈd͡ʒʌmboʊ/ fairly common british

adjective

1.

of great mass; huge and bulky

  • “a jumbo jet”
  • “jumbo shrimp”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Jumbo (1860-1885), the name given to a large African elephant from East Africa that was purchased in 1882 by American showman P. T. Barnum (1810-1891) for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Compare Swahili jambo (“matter, thing”) and jumbe (“chief, headman”).

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.