Pongidae

[ pon-ji-dee ]

noun

, (used with a singular or plural verb)

1. the primate family comprising gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans: no longer used in taxonomy, it is subsumed by the family Hominidae, which includes humans.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Pongidae¹

First recorded in 1910–15; from New Latin Pongidae, equivalent to Pong(o), type genus (said to be from Kongo mpongi, mpungu “ape”) + -idae -idae

Example Sentences

Only about 240 survivors of this subspecies of the Pongidae family remain.

From Time Magazine Archive