ape-man

[eyp-man]

noun

plural

ape-men 

1. a hypothetical primate representing a transitional form between true humans and the anthropoid apes, considered by some as constituting the genus Australopithecus.

2. a human assumed to have been reared by apes.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ape-man¹

First recorded in 1860–65; ape ( def. ) + man ( def. )

Example Sentences

Next, the ape-man travels to Algeria to expose a traitor in the French Foreign Legion.

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Dart therefore described the Taung Child as a ‘man-ape’ rather than an ‘ape-man’, like Java Man, and named the species Australopithecus africanus, which means southern ape from Africa.

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What looks like an ape-man is probably a bear standing on its hind legs.

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But after further inspection, he changed the name to Pithecanthropus erectus, an upright “ape-man.”

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In “2001,” an ape-man turns a bone into a weapon, initiating a progression that traces humanity from, as it’s been described, ape to angel.

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