Lorisid

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A nocturnal primate belonging to the family Lorisidae, which includes the lorises, pottos and angwantibos
2. Any slow-moving, large-eyed tree-dwelling primate of the family Lorisidae found in Africa and Asia
3. A member of the primate family Lorisidae, typically nocturnal and arboreal, with large eyes and grasping hands

Etymology: The word "lorisid" names any member of the family Lorisidae, the group of small, large-eyed primates from Africa and South and Southeast Asia that includes the slow lorises, pottos and angwantibos. Its history runs through a single animal name: "loris" was borrowed into English from French, which had taken it from Dutch "loeris", meaning "clown" or "simpleton", a reference to the creature's awkward, slow movements. The Dutch word is in turn linked to a sense of "lazy" or "good-for-nothing" in older Dutch. The scientific family name was built from that common name. Taxonomists formed the stem "Loris-" and attached the Latinized suffix "-idae", the standard ending for animal families, which gives the English "-id" ending in "lorisid". The same pattern produces "felid" from "Felis" and "canid" from "Canis".