orangutan
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of orangutan
First recorded in 1690–1700; from Dutch orang outang, apparently from Malay: literally, “forest man” ( Malay orang “man, person” + (h)utan “forest”
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How does orangutan compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Orangutans are primates with red fur, and they're also the largest animals that live mostly in trees. You may have seen orangutans at the zoo, swinging from branch to branch using their long arms. Orangutans are distinctive animals, with their shaggy hair, short legs, and long, agile arms. These intelligent primates are native to Indonesian and Malaysian rainforests, and just like those ecosystems, orangutans are endangered. Their name is derived from the Malay orang utan, "man of the forest," and it's especially fitting that we now know orangutans share more than 96 percent of their genes with humans.
Vocabulary lists containing orangutan
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.
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"The crisis facing the Tapanuli orangutan illustrates the convergence of climate instability, biodiversity loss, and vulnerability, calling for a coordinated response matching the scale of the threat," they report wrote.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
An orangutan mom doesn’t have a partner to make dinner or put on a dress for—orangutans live mostly alone—but she does handle all the homemaking and childcare herself.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
The zoo added that Punch was becoming less reliant on the stuffed orangutan toy because increasing numbers of monkeys were looking after or playing with him.
From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026
After the vessel transporting his family from India to Canada sinks, Pi escapes to a lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a tiger—and his situation gets more complicated with each passing day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
The answer comes to me as I’m chopping fruit for the orangutan.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans all produce laughter, but scientists have long wondered how those vocalizations changed over millions of years and whether they could reveal anything about the origins of human language.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 2, 2026
Today there are more than 800–roughly the population of Tapanuli orangutans or wild Bactrian camels, but it’s too late to change metaphors.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
The sample included gorillas, orangutans, macaques, colobus monkeys, fossil apes and more.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 8, 2026
But conservation workers say there are particular concerns for orangutans and other primates, like gibbons, because huge parts of the mountainous forest in the Tapanuli district saw massive landslides due to Cyclone Senyar's extreme rainfall.
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2025
It said that human beings came from orangutans, like Jenny in the zoo.
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
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.
