Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of a diverse group of monkeys of the genus Macaca of Asia, Gibraltar, and northern Africa, and including the Barbary ape and the rhesus monkey.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A monkey of the genus Macacus; one of the several kinds of monkeys coming between baboons and the African mangabeys.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of short-tailed monkeys of the genus Macaca (formerly Macacus), found in rocky regions of Asia and Africa.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of a group of Old World monkeys of the genus Macaca.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun short-tailed monkey of rocky regions of Asia and Africa

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Portuguese macaco, of Bantu origin; akin to Kongo makako, monkeys : ma-, pl. n. pref. + -kako, monkey.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French macaque, from Portuguese macaco, from Bantu makaku ("some monkeys") ‘some monkeys’, from ma- numeric prefix + kaku ‘monkey’.

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Examples

  • Crop damage by the macaque is widespread; patterns of crop damage are similar across altitudinal zones and do not seem to be correlated with macaque density.

    Archive 2008-12-01 2008

  • A Japanese macaque is on the loose, having escaped from the Bergeron Animal Sanctuary.

    Archive 2008-09-01 2008

  • The word macaque has also been used as a racial slur.

    Today's chimpanzee news. Ann Althouse 2009

  • It's a French slur, derived from the word macaque, as in monkey, used against the dark-skinned people of North Africa.

    08/15/2006 2006

  • It's a derivative of macaque, which is a type of monkey, apparently commonly addressed at Moroccans and other N.

    VA-SEN: "Macaca" -- The Movie! 2009

  • Rhesus monkeys have long been used by scientists trying to understand human physiology (a macaque was the first primate ever to rocket into the stratosphere, and we owe our ability to identify human blood types to research done on rhesus monkeys).

    Monkeys Are Machiavellian, Too - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com 2007

  • Rhesus monkeys have long been used by scientists trying to understand human physiology (a macaque was the first primate ever to rocket into the stratosphere, and we owe our ability to identify human blood types to research done on rhesus monkeys).

    Monkeys Are Machiavellian, Too - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com 2007

  • * To be fair to Senator Allen, the monkey is actually called a macaque of the genus macaca.

    Archive 2006-08-01 2006

  • If the fact that there are 550 hairs in the average human eyebrow prompts you to feel superior to the macaque, which is 550 hairs short, you conceal it well.

    Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas Robbins, Tom 1994

  • The remark is considered a racial slur in some countries, referring to a macaque, a kind of monkey.

    BusinessWeek.com -- Top News 2011

Comments

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  • "Mouthbreathing German tourists with vacant eyes and macaque teeth clattering their goose gabble. . ." from "Apples and Pears" by Guy Davenport

    January 19, 2010