Baboon

Pronunciation

• RP enPR: bÉ™boÍžonʹ, IPA: /bəˈbuːn/,
• US IPA: /bæˈbun/
• Rhymes: -uːn

Alternative forms

• babian, babion

Origin

From Middle English babewin, baboin, from Old French babouin, from baboue ("grimace, muzzle"), of origin, related to German dialectal Bäppe ("muzzle"), Middle High German beffen ("to bark"), Middle English baffen ("to bark"). See also baff, baffle.

Full definition of baboon

Noun

1. An Old World monkey of the genus Papio, having dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks.
• 1971: Philip José Farmer, Down in the Black Gang: and others; a story collection, page 79 (Nelson Doubleday)Mix swallowed the comment he wanted to make, that the council hall stank like a congress of baboons. But he was in no position to insult his host, nor should he. The man was only expressing the attitude of his time.
• 2012, John T. Jost, Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)?, He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.

Usage notes

The collective noun for baboons is troop.

Derived terms