Gigantopithecus

[ jahy-gan-toh-pi-thee-kuhs, -pith-i-kuhs, ji- ]

noun

1. a genus of extinct ape of southern Asia existing during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs, known only from very large fossil jaws and teeth and believed to be perhaps the biggest hominoid that ever lived.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Gigantopithecus¹

1940–45; < New Latin < Greek gigant- (stem of gígās ) giant + -o- -o- + píthēkos ape