chimpanzee

[ chim-pan-zee, chim-pan-zee ]
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noun
  1. a very social great ape of sub-Saharan Africa, belonging to the genus Pan and having a brown-to-black coat, a relatively hairless face with a rounded muzzle, prominent ears, and hands adapted for knuckle-walking, and noted for its intelligence and humanlike behavior: both species, the common chimpanzee (P. troglodytes) and the bonobo (P. paniscus), are greatly reduced in number and considered endangered.

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Origin of chimpanzee

1
First recorded in 1730–40; origin uncertain; possibly from Vili , a Bantu language spoken on the Atlantic coast between southern Gabon and northern Angola

Words Nearby chimpanzee

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British Dictionary definitions for chimpanzee

chimpanzee

/ (ˌtʃɪmpænˈziː) /


noun
  1. a gregarious and intelligent anthropoid ape, Pan troglodytes, inhabiting forests in central W Africa

Origin of chimpanzee

1
C18: from Kongo dialect

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012