macaque

[ muh-kak, -kahk ]

/ məˈkæk, -ˈkɑk /

Save This Word!

noun

any monkey of the genus Macaca, chiefly of Asia, characterized by cheek pouches and, usually, a short tail: several species are threatened or endangered.

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of macaque

First recorded in 1690–1700; from French, from Portuguese macaco “monkey,” presumably from a Bantu language of the Atlantic coast; compare Lingala makako “ape”

Words nearby macaque

Macanese, Macao, Macapá, Macapagal, Macapagal Arroyo, macaque, macarena, macaron, macaroni, macaroni and cheese, macaronic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use macaque in a sentence

Yet because the virus’s rhesus macaque hosts seldom, if ever, get tumors from it, little is known about how and why polyomavirus persists in an animal population.
Are viruses alive, not alive or something in between? And why does it matter?|Megan Scudellari|November 1, 2021|Science News
In 2009, Boyden and colleagues described optogenetics in a macaque.
Controlling nerve cells with light opened new ways to study the brain|Laura Sanders|June 18, 2021|Science News
Because their brains are the most similar to ours, rhesus macaque monkeys are often the critical step before a brain-machine interface technology is adapted for humans.
How Scientists Used Ultrasound to Read Monkeys’ Minds|Shelly Fan|March 30, 2021|Singularity Hub
The researchers used a version of AlexNet to model the ventral visual stream of macaques and figured out the correspondences between the artificial neuron units and neural sites in the monkeys’ V4 area.
Deep Neural Networks Help to Explain Living Brains|Anil Ananthaswamy|October 28, 2020|Quanta Magazine

They presented macaques with 175 images, showing 25 individuals in seven poses, and recorded the neural signatures from “face patches,” visual processing areas that specialize in face recognition.
Deep Neural Networks Help to Explain Living Brains|Anil Ananthaswamy|October 28, 2020|Quanta Magazine
An odd new study involving rhesus macaque monkeys, ethanol, and vaccines has found some benefit to moderate drinking.
Drink to Your Health? How Alcohol Might Actually Be Good for You|Kent Sepkowitz|December 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Instead of a small crest of hair, which is found on the top of the head of the macaque, this animal has it sharp and pointed.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume IX (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
The egret also has a longer tail than the macaque, in proportion to the length of its body.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume IX (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
The macaque has pouches on each side of his cheeks, and callosities on his posteriors.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume IX (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
The macaque and the egret, appeared to us so similar, that we presumed them to be of one and the same species.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume IX (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
The only other member of this family that we can mention is the crab-eating macaque, which is found in Siam and Burma.
The Animal World, A Book of Natural History|Theodore Wood

British Dictionary definitions for macaque

macaque

/ (məˈkɑːk) /

noun

any of various Old World monkeys of the genus Macaca, inhabiting wooded or rocky regions of Asia and Africa. Typically the tail is short or absent and cheek pouches are present

Word Origin for macaque

C17: from French, from Portuguese macaco, from Fiot (a W African language) makaku, from kaku monkey

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