jumbo

Etymology

A c. 1882 poster published by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus showing Jumbo the elephant and his keeper Matthew Scott

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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒʌmbəʊ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒʌmboʊ/
• Rhymes: -ʌmbəʊ
• Hyphenation: jum‧bo

Adjective

jumbo (not comparable)

1. Especially large or powerful.
   • 1919 May 1, The Peanut Promoter, volume 2, number 6:

     At Bucyrus, Ohio, M. C. Coulter this season has demonstrated that he can grow a nice crop of the jumbo variety of peanuts.

   • 1941, Harold Johnson Clay, Marketing Peanuts and Peanut Products, page 58:

     Of the receipts of unshelled peanuts only a few extras are now being bought, the remainder being divided rather equally between jumbo and fancy grades.

Noun

jumbo (plural jumbos)

1. An especially large or powerful person, animal or thing.
2. (engineering) A platform-mounted drilling rig.
   • 1937, Engineering News Record, volume 119:

     The drilling jumbo carried all the posts and bars necessary for the mounting in any desired position of five automatic feed drifer drills.

   • 1946, Mine and Quarry Engineering, volume 11-12, page 67:

     The curtailment of drilling because of a disruption of the loading cycle is far less likely with the jumbo than with post and tripod drilling, because from three to five working places are available to the jumbo, whereas only one or, at the most, two faces can be worked by one crew with the old method.

Derived terms

Related terms

• Jumbomania

Further reading

• Jumbo (elephant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Adjective

jumbo (not comparable)

1. (informal) last (especially in a competition)

Noun

jumbo

1. jumbo jet

Etymology

From English jumbo ("An especially large or powerful person, animal or thing").

Noun

jumbo m (definite singular jumboen, indefinite plural jumboer, definite plural jumboene)

1. a person or team that finishes last (in competitions)

   Bli jumbo ― Come last

References

• “jumbo” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “jumbo” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Etymology

From English jumbo ("An especially large or powerful person, animal or thing").

Noun

jumbo m (definite singular jumboen, indefinite plural jumboar, definite plural jumboane)

1. a person or team that finishes last (in competitions)

References

• “jumbo” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.