Monkey

Pronunciation

• enPR: mÅ­ngki, IPA: /ˈmʌŋki/
• Rhymes: -ʌŋki

Origin

Borrowing from gml Moneke (compare Old French Monequin), name of the son of Martin the Ape in Reynard the Fox, from Old Spanish mona ("mona monkey"), shortening of mamona, variant of maimón, from Arabic ميمون (maimūn, "monkey"), used to ward off the monkey's bad luck.

Full definition of monkey

Noun

1. Any member of the clade Simiiformes not also of the clade Hominoidea containing humans and apes, from which they are usually, but not universally, distinguished by smaller size, a tail, and cheek pouches.
2. (informal) A mischievous child.
   Stop misbehaving, you little monkey!
3. (British, slang) Five hundred pounds sterling.
4. (slang) A person or the role of the person on the sidecar platform of a motorcycle involved in sidecar racing.
5. (slang) A person with minimal intelligence and/or (bad) looks.
6. (blackjack) A face card.
7. (slang) A menial employee who does a repetitive job.
8. The weight or hammer of a pile driver; a heavy mass of iron, which, being raised high, falls on the head of the pile, and drives it into the earth; the falling weight of a drop hammer used in forging.
9. A small trading vessel of the sixteenth century.

Derived terms

• (menial employee) phone monkey, code monkey

Verb

1. (informal) To meddle; to mess with; to interfere; to fiddle.''Please don't monkey with the controls if you don't know what you're doing.
• 1920, Peter B. Kyne, The Understanding Heart, Chapter XII“As an inventor,” Bob Mason suggested, “you're a howling success at shooting craps! ... Why monkey with weak imitations when you can come close to the original?”

Derived terms