chimpanzee

[chim-pan-zee, chim-pan-zee]

noun

1. a very social great ape of sub-Saharan Africa, belonging to the genus Pan and having a brown-to-black coat, a relatively hairless face with a rounded muzzle, prominent ears, and hands adapted for knuckle-walking, and noted for its intelligence and humanlike behavior: both species, the common chimpanzee (P. troglodytes ) and the bonobo (P. paniscus ), are greatly reduced in number and considered endangered.

chimpanzee

/ ˌtʃɪmpænˈziː /

noun

1. a gregarious and intelligent anthropoid ape, Pan troglodytes, inhabiting forests in central W Africa

Word History and Origins

Origin of chimpanzee¹

First recorded in 1730–40; origin uncertain; possibly from Vili , a Bantu language spoken on the Atlantic coast between southern Gabon and northern Angola

Word History and Origins

Origin of chimpanzee¹

C18: from Kongo dialect

Example Sentences

Leakey wanted Goodall to live among a group of chimpanzees and study them, in the same way that anthropologists study human groups by observing their daily lives, rituals and behavior.

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In the many years that Jane Goodall observed and studied chimpanzees, she revolutionised our understanding of our closest primate cousins.

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Jane Goodall, the trailblazing naturalist whose intimate observations of chimpanzees in the African wild produced powerful insights that transformed basic conceptions of humankind, has died.

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Conservationist Dame Jane Goodall, a world-leading expert on chimpanzees, has died aged 91.

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Two baby chimpanzees have been born at the Los Angeles Zoo, the first in 11 years.

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Related Words

• ape 
• baboon 
• gorilla 
• lemur 
• orangutan