Monkey

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈmʌŋki/

Definitions

1. A highly social and intelligent primate that often displays playful characteristics, lives in various habitats, and can also denote a person acting in a silly or mischievous manner
2. This animal, known for its dexterous limbs and sociability, primarily dwells in trees and can refer informally to someone being playful or silly
3. A lively primate recognized for its intelligence and social behaviors, commonly inhabiting forests, and can also refer to an individual who engages in foolish or playful antics

Etymology: The origin of "monkey" is genuinely unsettled, and the candidates point in very different directions. One proposal treats it as "monk" plus a diminutive ending, a joke about a small, hooded-looking creature. Another connects it to Reynard the Fox, a medieval beast epic in which a character named Moneke, son of Martin the Ape, appears; the name may reflect a Middle Low German word for a monkey, though that word itself is not attested and its own origin is unclear. A further line of thought runs through French. Old French had "monnekin," originally a name for a monkey in a French text, and some scholars trace this back to Italian "monna," itself possibly from Old Spanish "mona," a shortening of "mamona," from Arabic "maymūn," meaning baboon. This route would make the word a distant cousin of the Arabic term that also gave Europe other words for apes. The most surprising possibility is that "monkey" and "mannequin" may be doublets. Old French "monnekin" might instead borrow Early Middle Dutch "mannekin," a diminutive of "man," literally "little human." If so, the same root that gives us a dressmaker's dummy also gave us a creature that looks uncannily like us.

Synonyms: primate, ape