aye-aye

[ ahy-ahy ]

noun

1. an endangered species of omnivorous lemur, Daubentonia madagascariensis, the world’s largest nocturnal primate, having rodentlike incisors and long fingers: its extremely rare foraging technique involves gnawing small holes in trees and extracting grubs with its distinctly thin middle finger.

aye-aye

/ ˈaɪˌaɪ /

noun

1. a rare nocturnal arboreal prosimian primate of Madagascar, Daubentonia madagascariensis , related to the lemurs: family Daubentoniidae. It has long bony fingers and rodent-like incisor teeth adapted for feeding on insect larvae and bamboo pith

Word History and Origins

Origin of aye-aye¹

First recorded in 1775–85; from French, from Malagasy aiay, probably imitative of its cry

Word History and Origins

Origin of aye-aye¹

C18: from French, from Malagasy aiay, probably of imitative origin

Example Sentences

An aye-aye—a type of lemur—was spotted on camera “digging for gold.”

From Scientific American

But if there’s a champion nose-picker, it’s got to be the aye-aye.

From Scientific American

It wasn't just any lemur; an aye-aye was filmed by Prof Anne-Claire Fabre from the University of Bern burying its elongated finger in its nostril.

From BBC

Certain primates like the aye-aye lemur have an extra thumb-like digit as well.

From New York Times

But they identified the same or similar mutation as humans in just six species — mostly those with a diet high in fruit and nectar, including flying foxes and aye-aye lemurs.

From New York Times