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English
An ape : the silvery gibbon
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English ape , from Old English apa ( “ ape, monkey ” ) , from Proto-West Germanic *apō , from Proto-Germanic *apô ( “ monkey, ape ” ) , possibly derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- ( “ water ” ) , compare Proto-Celtic *abū ( “ river ” ) (hence English place name Avon , Irish abha , Welsh afon ), if the word originally referred to a "water sprite". Traditionally assumed to be an ancient loanword instead, ultimately probably from an unidentified non-Indo-European language of regions in Africa or Asia where monkeys are native. Cognate with Scots aip ( “ ape ” ) , West Frisian aap ( “ ape ” ) , Dutch aap ( “ monkey, ape ” ) , Low German Ape ( “ ape ” ) , German Affe ( “ monkey, ape ” ) , Swedish apa ( “ monkey, ape ” ) , Icelandic api ( “ ape ” ) .
Noun
ape (plural apes )
A primate of the clade Hominoidea , generally larger than monkeys and distinguished from them by having no tail.
1528 October 12 (Gregorian calendar), William Tyndale , “William Tyndale other wise Called William Hychins vnto the Reader”, in The Obediẽce of a Christen Man , : , →OCLC , folio xix, recto :Of vvhat texte thou proveſt hell / vvill a nother prove purgatory / a nother lymbo patrum / and a nother the aſſumpcion of oure ladi: And a nother ſhall prove of the ſame texte that an Ape hath a tayle.
Any such primate other than a human.
( derogatory ) An uncivilized person.
One who apes; a foolish imitator .
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
primate of the clade Hominoidea
Afrikaans: aap (af)
Albanian: majmun (sq)
Arabic: قِرْد (ar) m ( qird )
Egyptian Arabic: قرْد ( 'erd )
Moroccan Arabic: قرْد ( qərd )
Armenian: մարդանման կապիկ ( mardanman kapik ) , կապիկ (hy) ( kapik ) ( ape or monkey )
Belarusian: ма́лпа (be) f ( málpa ) ( ape or monkey ) , чалавекападо́бная ма́лпа f ( čalavjekapadóbnaja málpa )
Bulgarian: майму́на (bg) f ( majmúna ) ( ape or monkey ) , човекоподо́бна майму́на f ( čovekopodóbna majmúna )
Catalan: mico (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 猿 ( jyun4 ) , 無尾猿 / 无尾猿 ( mou4 mei5 jyun4 ) , 類人猿 / 类人猿 ( leoi6 jan4 jyun4 )
Dungan: жынху ( řɨnhu ) (人猴 )
Mandarin: 猿 (zh) ( yuán ) , 無尾猿 / 无尾猿 (zh) ( wúwěiyuán ) , 類人猿 / 类人猿 (zh) ( lèirényuán )
Coptic: ⲉⲛ m ( en )
Czech: opice (cs) f
Danish: abe (da) c , menneskeabe c
Dutch: aap (nl) m , apin (nl) f , mensaap (nl) m
Esperanto: simio (eo) ( ape or monkey; common ) , homoideo ( technical )
Estonian: ahv (et)
Faroese: apa (fo) f
Finnish: ihmisapina (fi)
French: singe (fr) m , hominoïdé m , singe anthropoïde m
Galician: simio m
Georgian: მაიმუნი (ka) ( maimuni )
German: Affe (de) m ( ape or monkey ) , Menschenaffe (de) m ( ape specifically )
Greek: πίθηκος (el) m ( píthikos )
Ancient: πῐ́θηκος m ( píthēkos )
Hebrew: קוף (he) m ( kof ) ( ape or monkey ) , קוף אדם m ( kof-adám ) ( ape specifically )
Hindi: कपि (hi) m ( kapi ) , वानर (hi) m ( vānar )
Hungarian: majom (hu) , emberszabású majom (hu)
Icelandic: api (is) m
Indonesian: kera (id)
Irish: ápa m
Italian: scimmia (it) f , ominide (it) m
Japanese: 猿 (ja) ( さる, saru ) ( ape or monkey ) , サル (ja) ( saru ) , 類人猿 (ja) ( るいじんえん, ruijin'en )
Khmer: ស្វា (km) ( svaa )
Korean: ( ape or monkey ) 원숭이 (ko) ( wonsung'i ) , 유인원(類人猿) (ko) ( yuinwon )
Lao: ຖັກແທ່ ( thak thǣ ) , ວານອນ ( wā nǭn ) ( ape or monkey ) , ລິງ ( ling ) ( ape or monkey )
Latin: sīmia (la) f , sīmius m , clūra f
Latvian: pērtiķis m ( ape or monkey )
Lithuanian: beždžiõnė (lt) f , ( member of the family Pongidae ) žmõgbeždžionė f
Low German:
German Low German: Aap (nds) m , Oop (nds) m
Luxembourgish: Af m
Macedonian: мајмун (mk) m ( majmun ) , човеколик мајмун m ( čovekolik majmun )
Malay: mawas (ms)
Maltese: xadin
Maori: makimaki
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: сармагчин (mn) ( sarmagčin )
Mongolian: ᠰᠠᠷᠮᠠᠭᠴᠢᠨ ( sarmaɣčin )
Navajo: mágí
Ngazidja Comorian: nkima class 9 /10
Norman: marmoûset m
North Frisian: ( Mooring ) ååwe n ; ( Föhr-Amrum ) aab n
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ape (no) m or f , menneskeape m or f
Nynorsk: ape m or f
Old English: apa m
Oromo: qamalee (om)
Ottoman Turkish: میمون ( maymun )
Persian:
Dari: مَیْمُون ( maymūn ) , بُوزِینَه ( būzīna ) , کَپِی ( kapī ) , کَپِّی ( kappī )
Iranian Persian: مِیْمون ( meymun ) , بوزینِه ( buzine ) , کَپی ( kapi ) , کَپّی ( kappi )
Plautdietsch: Op f
Polish: małpa (pl) f ( ape or monkey ) , małpa człekokształtna f
Portuguese: macaco (pt) m , símio (pt) m
Punjabi:
Gurmukhi: ਬਣਮਾਣਸ m ( baṇmāṇas )
Romanian: maimuță (ro) f
Russian: обезья́на (ru) f ( obezʹjána ) ( ape or monkey ) , человекообра́зная обезья́на f ( čelovekoobráznaja obezʹjána )
Sanskrit: कपि (sa) m ( kapi )
Saterland Frisian: Oape
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ма̀јмун m , човеколики мајмун m , човјеколики мајмун m
Roman: màjmun (sh) m , čovekoliki majmun m , čovjekoliki majmun m
Slovak: opica (sk) f , človečnjak m
Slovene: opica (sl) f
Spanish: simio (es) m , hominoideo m , hominoide m
Swedish: människoapa (sv) c , apa (sv) c ( ape or monkey )
Tagalog: bakulaw , ugaw ( big )
Tajik: маймун (tg) ( maymun )
Thai: ลิงไม่มีหาง ( ling-mâi-mii-hǎang ) , ลิง (th) ( ling ) ( ape or monkey ) , จ๋อ ( jɔ̌ɔ ) ( ape or monkey )
Tibetan: མི་རྒོད ( mi rgod )
Turkish: insansı maymun (tr)
Ukrainian: ма́впа (uk) f ( mávpa ) ( ape or monkey ) , людиноподі́бна ма́впа f ( ljudynopodíbna mávpa )
Urdu: بَنْدَر m ( bandar ) , وانَر m ( vānar ) , کَپی m ( kapī )
Vietnamese: vượn (vi) , khỉ không đuôi
Volapük: lep (vo)
Walloon: mårticot (wa) m , séndje (wa) m
Welsh: epa m
West Frisian: aap (fy) c
Zazaki: apeka
Zulu: inkawu (zu) class 9 /10
any such primate other than a human
derogatory: uncivilized person
Verb
ape (third-person singular simple present apes , present participle aping or apeing , simple past and past participle aped )
( intransitive ) To behave like an ape.
( transitive ) To imitate or mimic , particularly to imitate poorly .
1772 , [Thomas Bridges ], “Something by Way of Preface”, in A Burlesque Translation of Homer , London: Printed for S. Hooper, , →OCLC :And well their dignity it ſuits, / To ape the gravity of brutes.
1847 , Emily Brontë , chapter XXI, in Wuthering Heights :But there’s this difference; one is gold put to the use of paving-stones, and the other is tin polished to ape a service of silver.
1961 , J. A. Philip, “Mimesis in the Sophistês of Plato,”, in Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association , volume 92 , page 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
Translations
to imitate
Afrikaans: na-aap (af)
Bulgarian: подражавам (bg) ( podražavam )
Catalan: imitar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: napodobovat impf , opičit se impf
Dutch: na-apen (nl) , nadoen (nl) , nabootsen (nl) , imiteren (nl)
Esperanto: simii
Finnish: matkia (fi) , apinoida (fi)
French: singer (fr)
German: nachäffen (de)
Greek: πιθηκίζω (el) ( pithikízo )
Hungarian: majmol (hu)
Icelandic: apa eftir
Italian: scimmiottare (it)
Japanese: 猿真似する (ja) ( sarumane suru )
Persian: کپی کردن (fa) ( kapi kardan ) , تقلید کردن (fa) ( taqlid kardan )
Polish: małpować (pl) , imitować (pl)
Portuguese: imitar (pt) , macaquear
Romanian: imita (ro) , maimuțări (ro)
Russian: ( act the ape ) обезья́нничать (ru) ( obezʹjánničatʹ ) , подража́ть (ru) ( podražátʹ )
Spanish: remedar (es) , imitar (es) , arremedar (es)
Swedish: härma (sv) , apa efter (sv)
Ukrainian: мавпувати ( mavpuvaty )
Etymology 2
Clipping of apeshit ( “ ape-shit (crazy) ” ) .
Adjective
ape (not comparable )
( slang ) Wild ; crazy .
We were ape over the new look.
He went ape when he heard the bad news.
See also
Anagrams
Afrikaans
Pronunciation
Noun
ape
plural of aap
Aromanian
Etymology
From Latin aqua .
Pronunciation
Noun
ape f (plural api , definite articulation apa )
Alternative form of apã
Corsican
Noun
ape
plural of apa
Finnish
Etymology
appaa + -e
Pronunciation
Noun
ape
horse feed
( colloquial ) food
Declension
Further reading
Guaraní
Pronunciation
This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!
Noun
ape
back
Interlingua
Etymology
From Latin apis, apem .
Noun
ape (plural apes )
bee
Italian
Etymology
From Latin apem .
Pronunciation
Noun
ape f (plural api )
( entomology ) bee
Synonym: pecchia
( colloquial ) honeybee
Synonyms: ape da miele , ape domestica
Further reading
Anagrams
Latin
Verb
ape
second-person singular present active imperative of apō
References
Mauritian Creole
Etymology
From French après . Compare Haitian Creole ap .
Pronunciation
Verb
ape (medial form ape )
( auxiliary ) Used to indicate present progressive tense or the continuous tense in general, commonly shortened to "pe " in speech .
Mbyá Guaraní
Noun
ape ( non-possessed form tape )
path
road , street
Middle English
Etymology
From Old English apa , from Proto-West Germanic *apō , from Proto-Germanic *apô .
Pronunciation
Noun
ape (plural apes or apen )
An ape or monkey; a simian creature.
A deceiver ; a conman or charlatan .
A gullible or foolish person.
Descendants
References
Neapolitan
Noun
ape
plural of apa
Norwegian Bokmål
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Old Norse api .
Noun
ape f or m (definite singular apa or apen , indefinite plural aper , definite plural apene )
ape , monkey
Etymology 2
Verb
ape (imperative ap , present tense aper , passive apes , simple past apa or apet or apte , past participle apa or apet or apt , present participle apende )
to ape , mimic or imitate .
References
“ape” in The Bokmål Dictionary .
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology 1
From Old Norse api .
Noun
ape m (definite singular apen , indefinite plural apar , definite plural apane )
ape f (definite singular apa , indefinite plural aper , definite plural apene )
ape , monkey
Etymology 2
Verb
ape (present tense apar , past tense apa , past participle apa , passive infinitive apast , present participle apande , imperative ape /ap )
e-infinitive form of apa
References
“ape” in The Nynorsk Dictionary .
Romanian
Pronunciation
Noun
ape
inflection of apă :
plural
genitive / dative singular
Sardinian
Etymology
From Latin apis, apem . Compare Logudorese abe , Campidanese abi .
Pronunciation
Noun
ape f (plural apes )
( Nuorese ) bee
Derived terms
References
Wagner, Max Leopold (1960–1964 ) Dizionario etimologico sardo , Heidelberg
Rubattu, Antoninu (2006 ) Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna , 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes