Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An arboreal anthropoid ape (Pongo pygmaeus) of Borneo and Sumatra, having a shaggy reddish-brown coat, very long arms, and no tail.
Wiktionary
- n. An arboreal anthropoid ape genus Pongo consisting of two species, Pongo pygmaeus of Borneo and Pongo abelii of Sumatra, having a shaggy reddish-brown coat, very long arms, and no tail.
WordNet 3.0
- n. large long-armed ape of Borneo and Sumatra having arboreal habits
Etymologies
- Malay orang ("person", "man") + hutan ("forest") "forest man". The name "orang utan (sic)" appears to have been bestowed by Europeans. The indigenous name given to the apes Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelii by locals historically was mawas. (Wiktionary)
- Malay orang hutan : orang, man + hutan, wilderness, jungle. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“While many believe the term orangutan is a reference to its orange or light red hair, this actually isn't the correct etymology.”
“The orangutan is a Convention on International Trade of Endangerd Species (CITES) I species and was added to the U.S.”
“Conservatives (sic) predict without immediate action, the orangutan could be the first great ape to become instinct in the wild.”
“One of my top priorities was to pay another visit to Asia's only great ape, the orangutan, which is endemic to Borneo and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.”
“The rate of deforestation and habitat loss is so great that some scientists are predicting that the orangutan will be the first great ape to go extinct in modern times.”
“Yet the orangutan is a creature who lives alone, seeking out others only to mate--but their fur is an unattractive shade of orange, and they shit at unfortunate times when you visit them at the zoo.”
“The sighting of an "orangutan" or some other odd critter in Baker County, FL, has brought out more witnesses.”
“A Florida Fish & Wildlife investigator thinks the "orangutan" seen in Baker County was just an orange-phase fox squirrel.”
“There have been sightings of an "orangutan" around Glen St. Mary, Florida, a small Baker County town along the northern border of the state.”
“The vast tracts of montane forest still remain undisturbed and therefore still support some of the larger megafauna such as orangutan and Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis).”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘orangutan’.
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the curious incident of the dog in th...
words from a novel by mark haddon
dog, garden fork, Wellington, prime, maths, clench, The Hound of the ..., police, dead, bread-slicing mac..., groaning, drawn and 126 more...
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primates
big ones,small ones,as many as
I can findangwantibo, babacoote, baboon, bandar, bandari, bobbejaan, bonobo, bushbaby, cebid, ceboid, chacma, chimp and 102 more...
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Words with unusual spellings or pronu...
Herein are listed words with oddball spellings and words whose pronunciation does not reflect the spelling.
eleemosynary, Wednesday, colonel, posslq, zaqqum, qwerty, cinquefoil, qibla(h), minuscule, Cholmondeley, polyphloisboian, ptisan and 67 more...
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Funny Words
gerbil, spleen, regurgitate, crevis, retro, orangutan, jiggly, ear, tart, pickle, fizzle, kapow and 4 more...
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
bumwank, calamity, recalcitrant, gayenese, jeeze, nonsense, flabbergasted, juxtapose, procrastinating, ossanity, biffing, loser and 1972 more... -
kat's words
ecumenical, cacophony, clatter, marimba, bamboo, saffron, slice, mercurial, pomegranate, cranky, slipshod, scritch and 511 more...
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colleen's words
yellow, green, pie, blue, fur, people, incense, book, brown, avuncular, mountain, fog and 1316 more...
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Fun Words
Words that have funny meanings or are just fun to say.
kumquat, chimichanga, sarsparilla, rutabaga, rumpus, flummox, encrusted, prestidigitation, pomegranate, preposterous, dentiloquist, sepulchre and 323 more...
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Stately Animals
Animals and birds of nations and states. Also see Stately Plants
lion, eagle, fennec fox, dragon, blue whale, magnificent friga..., cougar, kangaroo, emu, black eagle, orca whale, flamingo and 233 more...
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MsHalston's Words
theoretically, insufferable, apolitico, milquetoast, egregious, aplomb, elan, fraught, flummox, befrocked, moll, molten and 605 more...
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_mark's list
Words I like!
( personal list, favorite words, randomness )psy, nanobot, success, smack, vibration, microcosmic, springgraph, marksmanship, estranged, homoerotic, flex, fiasco and 1687 more...
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amsstory's list
pretentious, delectable, egomaniacal, lionize, titillate, nebulous, obfuscation, ostentatious, wry, precipice, ethereal, echo and 150 more...
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Critters
cockle, cicada, appaloosa, brachiopod, bivalve, aye-aye, cygnet, alewife, chamois, ermine, drake, dugong and 381 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (O)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
oak, oblivion, octagon, october, ode, ogre, omen, op art, opaline, open sesame, ophiomancy, opium and 29 more...
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urbanorama's Words
dicker, murgatroyd, wheedle, snicker, snuffle, whinge, swag-bellied, fulsome, sozzle, gilly-gaupus, invaginate, cuddy and 13 more...
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You Damned Dirty Ape!
Primates.
lemur, bush baby, galago, tarsier, potto, loris, marmoset, monkey, tamarin, capuchin, squirrel monkey, night monkey and 44 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for orangutan.
chained_bear Another usage on durian. Jul 16, 2009
elohiwarrior I don't think they need a screwdriver! Jul 16, 2009
whichbe "There is a saying among primate keepers, Heidi Lyn explained, that if you give a screwdriver to a chimp, it will throw it at someone. If you give a screwdriver to a gorilla, it will scratch itself. But if you give a screwdriver to an orangutan, it will let itself out of the cage."
-- Christine Kenneally, The First Word, p90 Jul 16, 2009
chained_bear A word that is sometimes spelled with an additional g. Here's a list of some other words that are much more fun with an additional g. Aug 29, 2008