orangutan

Also o·rang-u·tan;
Also

[aw-rang-oo-tan, oh-rang-, uh-rang-]

noun

1. either of two species of long-armed, arboreal great ape, the only extant members of the subfamily Ponginae, inhabiting Borneo (Pongo pygmaeus ) and Sumatra (P. abelii ): both species, including all three of the Bornean subspecies, are endangered.

Word History and Origins

Origin of orangutan¹

First recorded in 1690–1700; from Dutch orang outang, apparently from Malay: literally, “forest man” ( Malay orang “man, person” + (h)utan “forest”

Example Sentences

Their focus was on monkeys and apes that evolved in Africa, Europe, and Asia, including chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans.

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Simon was on his way, and the children had updated their journals with pictures of elephants, orangutans, and some brave attempts to spell “Peloponnesian.”

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AFP earlier this year reported that Vantara had acquired a Tapanuli orangutan from the United Arab Emirates that originated in Indonesia.

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The Los Angeles Zoo has announced the birth of a baby boy Bornean orangutan, the first such primate baby at the zoo in almost 15 years.

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At age 25, Birutė Galdikas, the Canadian anthropologist, was wading through swamps riddled with parasites and leeches trying to catch a glimpse of orangutans, or, as she describes them, “survivors of Eden.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• ape 
• baboon 
• chimpanzee 
• gorilla 
• lemur