Pithecine

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having the characteristics of an ape or monkey, or relating to these primates in appearance or nature
2. Relating to apes or monkeys, or bearing a resemblance to them in form or behavior
3. Of or like the great apes and monkeys, sharing their physical traits or manner

Etymology: Pithecine means "resembling an ape or monkey," and it is a deliberately learned coinage built on Greek. The base is Greek "pithekos," meaning "ape" or "monkey," a word whose ancient usage was broad enough that some scholars link it to a Greek legend in which the Cyclopes were turned into apes, though this link is speculative. The suffix "-ine" comes via Latin "-inus," meaning "of the nature of" or "belonging to," so the adjective literally means "of the nature of an ape." Because the word was built from classical Greek parts rather than inherited through speech, it is a learned formation of the scientific vocabulary that flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries, when naturalists were naming and classifying animals. English writers used it chiefly in zoological and anthropological contexts, and it remains a rare, somewhat formal word that appears mostly in scientific or literary prose.

Synonyms: simian, apelike