chimpanzee

American  

[chim-pan-zee, chim-pan-zee] / ˌtʃɪm pænˈzi, tʃɪmˈpæn zi /

noun

• chimpanzees
  plural

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.

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chimpanzee British  

/ ˌtʃɪmpænˈziː /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• chimpanzees
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of chimpanzee

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

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Compare meaning

How does chimpanzee compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• orangutan vs. chimpanzee

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Explanation

Chimpanzees are one of our closest ape relatives, along with bonobos. In the wild, chimpanzees live in social family groups and swing from tree to tree using their long arms. As a human, you share 98.7 percent of your genes with chimpanzees, as well as a common ancestor. Known as chimps for short, these endangered primates have furry bodies and smooth, expressive faces. They're one of the few non-human animals that use tools, and in captivity have been taught basic sign language. Chimpanzee is from the Bantu word chimpenze, "ape."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chimpanzee chimpanzees

Pant hooting and buttress drumming are both part of the male chimpanzee display, suggesting that accumulative stone throwing might represent a modification of this common behavior.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026

The Marmot Project, which has been running for more than 60 years, is the second-longest study of individually identified mammals in the world, after Jane Goodall's chimpanzee study in Tanzania.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

The vision was conceived by Jane Goodall, the late, famed chimpanzee expert, and Margarita Pagliai, who founded Seven Arrows and Little Dolphins Preschool in the Palisades.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026

If you compare the smartest nonhuman animal, the chimpanzee, to what Mr. Lefebvre regards as the smartest bird, the New Caledonian crow, chimps emerge on top.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

I was in the Gombe area for one of our Wildlife Awareness Weeks, showing the local people some of the wonders of chimpanzee life.

From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall

"We are less intelligent than superintelligent AI. If you ask chimpanzees how humans could wipe them out, they probably wouldn't be able to give you all the right answers."

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

Video recordings show wild western chimpanzees, usually adult males, throwing rocks at specific trees and repeatedly returning to these trees to perform the behavior.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026

The amount detected in Neanderthal samples was similar to levels found in western chimpanzees, which use insects to supplement their diets on the savanna, particularly during droughts.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

This carries on until the occasional, inevitable reckoning, when the same chimpanzees all panic and try to sell at the same time.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

It would be nice if there were chimpanzees in these woods, but that seems highly unlikely.

From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly

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Related Words

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