Ape

Pronunciation

• enPR: āp, IPA: /eɪp/
• Rhymes: -eɪp

Origin

From Middle English ape, from Old English apa ("ape, monkey"), from Proto-Germanic *apô ("monkey, ape"), from Proto-Indo-European *abō- ("ape"). Cognate with Scots aip ("ape"), West Frisian aap ("ape"), Dutch aap ("monkey, ape"), Low German Ape ("ape"), German Affe ("monkey, ape"), Swedish apa ("ape"), Icelandic api ("ape").

Full definition of ape

Noun

1. (zoology) A primate of the clade Hominoidea, generally larger than monkeys and distinguished from them by having no tail.
2. Any such primate other than a human.
3. (derogatory) An uncivilised person.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Verb

1. (intransitive) To behave like an ape.
2. (transitive) To imitate; mimic.
• 1961, J. A. Philip, "Mimesis in the Sophistês of Plato," Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, vol. 92, p. 454,It is not conceived as a mere “aping” in externals nor as an enacting in the sense of assuming a foreign role.

Derived terms

• aper

Adjective

1. Wild; crazy.We were ape over the new look.He went ape when he heard the bad news.

Anagrams

• EAP
• EPA
• PAE
• pea