talapoin

[ tal-uh-poin ]

noun

a small, yellowish guenon monkey, Micropithecus (Cercopithecus) talapoin, of western Africa.

Origin of talapoin

1580–90; <French, special use (originally jocular) of talapoin Buddhist monk <Mon tɔelaʔ pian (written tīla puin) Buddha, literally, the Lord of Merit (Old Mon tirlaaʾ lord + Pali puñña merit)

Words Nearby talapoin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use talapoin in a sentence

A talapoin says, that Fo was a holy man, whose doctrine the bonzes have corrupted, and that Sammonocodom is the true God.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 9 (of 10) | Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)

British Dictionary definitions for talapoin

talapoin

/ (ˈtæləˌpɔɪn) /

noun

the smallest of the guenon monkeys, Cercopithecus talapoin, of swampy central W African forests, having olive-green fur and slightly webbed digits
(in Myanmar and Thailand)
- a Buddhist monk
- a title of respect used in addressing such a monk

Origin of talapoin

C16: from French, literally: Buddhist monk, from Portuguese talapão, from Mon tala pōi our lord; originally jocular, from the appearance of the monkey

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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