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baboon

 - 4 dictionary results

ba⋅boon

  [ba-boon or, especially Brit., buh-]
Use baboon in a Sentence
–noun
1. any of various large, terrestrial monkeys of the genus Papio and related genera, of Africa and Arabia, having a doglike muzzle, large cheek pouches, and a short tail.
2. a coarse, ridiculous, or brutish person, esp. one of low intelligence.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME baboyne, babewyn grotesque figure, gargoyle, late ME: baboon (cf. AL babevynus) < MF babouin, akin to babine pendulous lip, deriv. of an expressive base *bab- grimace

Related forms:
ba⋅boon⋅ish, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ba·boon   (bā-bōōn')   
n.  

  1. Any of several large terrestrial African and Asian monkeys of the family Cercopithecidae, especially of the genus Papio or Chaeropithecus and related genera, characterized by an elongated, doglike muzzle, a short tail, and bare calluses on the buttocks.

  2. Slang A brutish person; a boor.


[Middle English babewin, from Old French babuin, gaping figure, gargoyle, baboon, perhaps blend of Old French babine, muzzle, and babau, grimace.]
ba·boon'er·y n., ba·boon'ish adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
baboon

  1. n.
    a jerk; a stupid person. (Also a rude term of address.) : Tell that ugly baboon to get out of here.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

baboon 
type of ape, c.1400, babewyn, earlier "a grotesque figure used in architecture or decoration" (c.1325), from O.Fr. babuin "ape, fool," and also "gaping figure (such as a gargoyle)," which may suggest an origin in O.Fr. baboue "grimacing," or perhaps it is imitative of the ape's babbling speech-like cries.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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