aye-aye

[ahy-ahy]

noun

1. an endangered species of omnivorous lemur, Daubentonia madagascariensis, the world’s largest nocturnal primate, having rodentlike incisors and long fingers: its extremely rare foraging technique involves gnawing small holes in trees and extracting grubs with its distinctly thin middle finger.

aye-aye

/ ˈaɪˌaɪ /

noun

1. a rare nocturnal arboreal prosimian primate of Madagascar, Daubentonia madagascariensis , related to the lemurs: family Daubentoniidae. It has long bony fingers and rodent-like incisor teeth adapted for feeding on insect larvae and bamboo pith

Word History and Origins

Origin of aye-aye¹

First recorded in 1775–85; from French, from Malagasy aiay, probably imitative of its cry

Word History and Origins

Origin of aye-aye¹

C18: from French, from Malagasy aiay, probably of imitative origin