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• rhesus
  rhesus

  noun

  a macaque, Macaca mulatta, of India, used in experimental medicine.
• Rhesus
  Rhesus

  noun

  Greek myth a king of Thrace, who arrived in the tenth year of the Trojan War to aid Troy. Odysseus and Diomedes stole his horses because an oracle had said that if these horses drank from the River Xanthus, Troy would not fall

rhesus

American  

[ree-suhs] / ˈri səs /

noun

1. a macaque, Macaca mulatta, of India, used in experimental medicine.

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Rhesus British  

/ ˈriːsəs /

noun

1. Greek myth a king of Thrace, who arrived in the tenth year of the Trojan War to aid Troy. Odysseus and Diomedes stole his horses because an oracle had said that if these horses drank from the River Xanthus, Troy would not fall

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Other Word Forms

• rhesian adjective

Etymology

Origin of rhesus

1830–40; < New Latin, arbitrary use of Latin Rhēsus name of a Thracian king allied with Troy < Greek Rhêsos

Example Sentences

To get a clearer picture, Tafazoli trained two male rhesus macaques to carry out three related tasks while recording activity across their brains.

From Science Daily • Nov. 28, 2025

On a tiny island called Cayo Santiago off the coast of Puerto Rico exists a colony of about 1,800 rhesus macaques.

From Salon • Mar. 16, 2025

Of those that received the vaccine-elicited rhesus macaque antibodies, no monkeys receiving the antibody called DFPH-a.15 acquired SHIV, and 25% of those receiving the antibody called DF1W-a.01 acquired SHIV.

From Science Daily • Jan. 17, 2024

And it has proved harder still with rhesus monkeys, with no births until the research team succeeded two years ago.

From BBC • Jan. 16, 2024

He drew off a little bit of fluid from the flasks and injected it into three rhesus monkeys, to infect them with the Cardinal agent.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston