orangutan

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

See more synonyms for orangutan on Thesaurus.com

noun

a large, long-armed anthropoid ape, Pongo pygmaeus, of arboreal habits, inhabiting Borneo and Sumatra: an endangered species.

Also o·rang-u·tan, o·rang·u·tang, o·rang-ou·tang

[aw-rang-oo-tang, oh-rang-, uh-rang-] /ɔˈræŋ ʊˌtæŋ, oʊˈræŋ-, əˈræŋ-/.

Origin of orangutan

1690–1700; < New Latin, Dutch orang outang, apparently < pidgin or bazaar Malay: literally, forest man (Malay orang man, person + (h)utan forest

Also called orang.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for orangutan

baboon, ape, lemur, chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, rascal, monk, imp, scamp, simian, anthropoid, hominoid, monkey, human, man, gibbon, primate, humanoid, orang

Examples from the Web for orangutan

Contemporary Examples of orangutan

Some dude slaps an orangutan around a little,” says Rick, “and they ask for $800,000,000.
The Stacks: The Judas Priest Teen Suicide Trial
Ivan Solotaroff
June 28, 2014
But it is unlikely to make that transition itself, anymore than you could turn yourself into your neighbor, or an orangutan.
Can Walmart Change?
Megan McArdle
November 29, 2012
There was an orangutan sanctuary there, and I heard that they were taking volunteers.
Audrey Tautou on ‘Amélie,’ Her New Film ‘Delicacy,’ & More
Marlow Stern
March 18, 2012
The exhibit was intended as an example of the "missing link" between the orangutan and white man.
Of Course Killer Whales Kill
Mansfield Frazier
February 25, 2010
Sammy the orangutan has watched himself in Dunston Checks In, and he seemed to be interested.
Bubbles Speaks
Ben Montgomery
July 5, 2009

Historical Examples of orangutan

Of the great man-like apes (gorilla, orangutan, and chimpanzee).
Dactylography
Henry Faulds
He leaped from left to right, and back again, like an orangutan stirred to frenzied anger.
Captain Pott's Minister
Francis L. Cooper

Word Origin and History for orangutan

1690s, from Dutch orang-outang (1631), from Malay orang utan, literally "man of the woods," from orang "man" + utan, hutan "forest, wild." It is possible that the word originally was used by town-dwellers on Java to describe savage forest tribes of the Sunda Islands and that Europeans misunderstood it to mean the ape. The name is not now applied in Malay to the animal, but there is evidence that it was used so in 17c. [OED]