orangutan
Use Orangutan in a sentence
ʊˌtæn, oʊˈræŋ-, əˈræŋ- noun
a large, long-armed anthropoid ape, Pongo pygmaeus, of arboreal habits, inhabiting Borneo and Sumatra: an endangered species.
Also called orang.
Origin:
1690–1700; < Neo-Latin, Dutch orang outang, apparently < pidgin or bazaar Malay: literally, forest man (Malay orang man, person + (h)utan forest
1690–1700; < Neo-Latin, Dutch orang outang, apparently < pidgin or bazaar Malay: literally, forest man (Malay orang man, person + (h)utan forest
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
orangutan
1699, from Du. orang-outang, from Malay orang utan, lit. "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 so in 17c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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00:10
Orangutan
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Example sentences
The orangutan evidence adds a new twist to the debate of arboreal versus terrestrial bipedalism theories.
Later investigation revealed that the door that connects the furnace room to the orangutan enclosure was open.
In one case, an orangutan cringed and pulled away as its companion extracted a fish from a pond.
Too much vibration and an orangutan can be thrown off altogether.
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