orang-utan
Britishnoun
Etymology
Origin of orang-utan
C17: from Malay orang hutan, from ōrang man + hūtan forest
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.
The film puts everyday conversations into the mouths of animals including an orang-utan, lemurs and an orca.
From BBC • Jul. 28, 2020
Other reports have said that devastating forest fires in Indonesia, in addition to the spread of palm oil plantations, have wiped out thousands of square miles of rainforest, the home of the orang-utan.
From The Guardian • Apr. 9, 2016
To have an orang-utan stand behind you while you give a talk, and you say, 'Who here pledges to purchase only certified sustainable palm oil?' and an orang-utan raises its hand — it's very moving.
From Nature • Jun. 12, 2013
Alone above the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Pacific, he's an orphan captaining a lifeboat with only a zebra, a hyena, a female orang-utan and the gigantic Bengal tiger Richard Parker for company.
From The Guardian • Dec. 23, 2012
Father judiciously traded these for an extra orang-utan from the Mysore Zoo and a chimpanzee from the Manila Zoo.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
![]()
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.