gibbon

Forms

gibbon m (plural gibbons)^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][3] The word was brought to France by Dupleix, who had brought the ape back from the East Indies, and Buffon says it was the name it bore there.^[4][2][5] The TLFi and Bloch and Wartburg take it from a language of the East Indies, but the DHLF and the Grand Robert note that no such source word has been found.^[4][5][2][6] Pierre Guiraud proposed instead a naturalists' coinage on the stem of Latin gibbus (“hump”) (as in gibbeux), from the ape's hunched gait.^[2][6] Wiktionary suggests an English folk etymology after the surname Gibbon, with an Aslian root.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Buffon records it in 1766 as the name of an ape that Dupleix had brought back from the East Indies (the TLFi cites the passage as before 1768).^[7][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its single sense, the long-armed, tailless ape of the forests of Southeast Asia.^[4][3] English gibbon is recorded from 1770, from the French word.^[8]

Timeline

• 1766 – Buffon introduces the name, brought from India by Dupleix.^[7][2]
• 1770 – English gibbon is recorded.^[8]
• 1805 – Cuvier compares the gibbon's long arms with the orangutan's.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A gibbon, a tailless, long-armed anthropoid ape of the tropical forests of Asia, living in trees and in groups, the smallest of the hominoids.^[4][3][9]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org