orangutan

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˌɹæŋ.uːˈtæn/, /əˌɹæŋ.uːˈtæŋ/ (UK); /əˈɹæŋ.əˌtæn/, /əˈɹæŋ.əˌtæŋ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed through Dutch orang-outang (1631) and French orang-outang^[2][3][4] from Malay orang utan (“man of the forest”),^{[5][2][3][6][4]} from orang “man, person”^{[5][2][3][6][4]} and hutan “forest, wilderness”.^{[5][2][3][6][4]} Merriam-Webster and Random House give the source as Bazaar Malay, a Malay-based pidgin.^[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The great ape of Borneo and Sumatra (1690s, with 1691 in Merriam-Webster and 1699 in Barnhart).^[3][6][2]

Semantic evolution

According to the OED, quoted by Etymonline, the Malay phrase may first have been used by town-dwellers in Java for wild forest tribes, and Europeans may have misunderstood it as the name of the ape.^[3] The name is not now used in Malay for the animal, though there is evidence that it was so used in the 17th century.^[3] English has had many spellings, such as orang-outang and orangutang, some now archaic.^[4][1]

Timeline

• 1631 – Dutch orang-outang.^[2][3]
• 1691 – Merriam-Webster's date.^[6]
• 1699 – Orang-Outang (Barnhart).^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A large tree-dwelling ape of Borneo and Sumatra, with long arms, a shaggy reddish-brown coat and no tail.

Related words

• gorilla
• chimpanzee

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster