hamadryas

British

/ ˌhæməˈdraɪəs /

noun

Also called: hamadryas baboon. sacred baboon. a baboon, Papio (or Comopithecus ) hamadryas, of Arabia and NE Africa, having long silvery hair on the head, neck, and chest: regarded as sacred by the ancient Egyptians: family Cercopithecidae

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of hamadryas

C19: via New Latin from Latin; see _hamadryad

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

hamadryas

Female hamadryas baboons given hormonal contraception lived 29 percent longer, while castrated males lived 19 percent longer.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 16, 2026

Thoth, the god of learning and wisdom was represented by a hamadryas baboon.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2023

The upshot of these findings is that the hamadryas baboon appears to have more to gain from early-morning sunbathing than the olive baboon has.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 17, 2021

In their efforts to decode the significance of the hamadryas baboon, scholars have considered the way it is depicted in Egyptian art, noting two iconic forms.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 17, 2021

I early turned my attention to the traditions associated with the Cynocephalus hamadryas, or Sacred Baboon of Abyssinia.

From The Green Eyes of Bâst by Rohmer, Sax

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023