ape
pronunciation
How to pronounce ape in British English:
UK [eɪp]
How to pronounce ape in American English:
US [eɪp]
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- Noun:
- any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all
- someone who copies the words or behavior of another
- person who resembles a non-human primate
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- Verb:
- imitate uncritically and in every aspect
- represent in or produce a caricature of
Word Origin
- ape
- ape: [OE] Ape (in Old English apa) has cognates in several Germanic languages (German affe, Dutch aap, Swedish apa), and comes from a prehistoric West and North Germanic *apan (perhaps originally borrowed from Celtic). Until the early 16th century, when English acquired the word monkey, it was the only term available for any of the non-human primates, but from around 1700 it began to be restricted in use to the large primates of the family Pongidae.
- ape (n.)
- Old English apa "ape, monkey," from Proto-Germanic *apan (cognates: Old Saxon apo, Old Norse api, Dutch aap, German affe), perhaps borrowed in Proto-Germanic from Celtic (compare Old Irish apa) or Slavic (compare Old Bohemian op, Slovak opitza), perhaps ultimately from a non-Indo-European language. Apes were noted in medieval times for mimicry of human action, hence, perhaps, the other figurative use of the word, to mean "a fool." To go ape (in emphatic form, go apeshit) "go crazy" is 1955, U.S. slang. To lead apes in hell (1570s) was the fancied fate of one who died an old maid.
- ape (v.)
- "to imitate," 1630s, but the notion is implied earlier, as in the phrase play the ape (1570s), Middle English apeshipe "ape-like behavior, simulation" (mid-15c.); and the noun sense of "one who mimics" may date from early 13c. Related: Aped; aping.
Example
- 1. Dunbar noticed that ape groups tended to top out at 55 members .
- 2. Homo erectus is an upright ape that lived on the african savannah .
- 3. A hominid is really any extinct ape more closely related to us than the chimpanzee .
- 4. Moreau 's cruel experiments generated creatures that were part human and part leopard , ox or ape .
- 5. When scientists talk about ape intelligence they usually cite experiments that ran concurrently or have been conducted since project nim .