orangutan

Meaning

An arboreal ape, characterised by their shaggy reddish-brown coat and long arms, which comprise the genus Pongo, native to Borneo and Sumatra.

Synonyms

orang-utan

orangutang

Pongo pygmaeus

orang

orang-utang

heavy drinker

orangoutang

ape

🐒

Translations

Orang-Utan

🦧

orang-outan

🦧

orangután

🦧

orango

🦧

orangutan

🦧

orang-oetan

🦧

orangotango

🦧

orangutan

🦧

ουρακοτάγκος

pongo

🦧

إنسان الغاب

orangutan

🦧

orangutano

orangutan

Pronounced as (IPA)

/əˌɹæŋ.uːˈtæn/

Etymology

From Malay orang (“person, man”) + hutan (“forest”); literally, "forest man". Other names for the animal are mawas and mayas.
The name orangutan has been used in Old Javanese texts, notably in Rāmāyaṇa and Smaradahana, in the form of uraṅutan and wuraṅutan. Its usage to refer to the apes in these texts (from as early as the 9th century CE) has been seen as a refutation of claims that the name orangutan originates from a European source.