monkey

Meaning

Noun

1. A member of the clade Simiiformes other than those in the clade Hominoidea containing apes, generally (but not universally) distinguished by small size, tails, and cheek pouches.
2. Any simian primate other than hominids, any monkey or ape.
3. (informal) A human considered to resemble monkeys in some way, including:
4. (slang) A human considered to resemble monkeys in some way, including:
5. A human considered to resemble monkeys in some way, including:
6. A human considered to resemble monkeys in some way, including:
7. (slang) A human considered to resemble monkeys in some way, including:
8. (slang) A human considered to resemble monkeys in some way, including:
9. (slang) A black person.
10. (slang) A penis.
11. A small trading vessel of the sixteenth century.
12. (slang) The vessel in which a mess receives its full allowance of grog.
13. The weight of a pile driver or drop hammer.
14. A fluid consisting of hydrochloric acid and zinc, used in the process of soldering.
15. (slang) Synonym of five hundred, especially (British) 500 pounds sterling or (US, dated) 500 dollars.
16. Synonym of face card.
17. (slang) A person's temper, said to be "up" when they are angry.
18. (slang) A drug habit; an addiction; a compulsion.
19. A dance popularized by Major Lance in 1963, now usually only its upper-body dance move involving exaggerated drumming motions.

Verb

1. (informal) To meddle; to mess (with).
2. To mimic; to ape.

Synonyms

ape

primate

simian

imitate

fiddle

scallywag

scalawag

mimic

fool around

apelike

apish

chimp

imp

👿

marmoset

mock

monkey around

potter

putter

rapscallion

rascal

scamp

take off

tamper

tarsier

tinker

mess around

muck about

muck around

play a trick

play a practical joke

lemur

load

macaque

twiddle

mime

bumpkin

colobus

intervene in

play

all fours

boor

flushing hole

ram

🐏

slag pin hole

tamper with

rollick

beast

baboon

slag notch aperture

animal

🐾

slyboots

langur

monkeyish

sport

Saru

toy

trifle

counterfeit

dally

emulate

fake

falsify

chiseller

albino

forge

frivolous

frolic

game

green

chimpanzee

trifler

interfere

intervene

jackanapes

jocko

Hyphenated as

monk‧ey

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈmʌŋki/

Etymology

Cognate with French: mone

Cognate with Old French: monnekin

Cognate with Old French: -

Cognate with Middle French: monin

In summary

Uncertain. May be derived from monk + -ey (diminutive suffix), or borrowed from Middle Low German Moneke, the name of the son of Martin the Ape in Reynard the Fox (which may represent an unattested colloquial Middle Low German *moneke, *moneken), itself of uncertain origin. Possibly derived from a Romance term represented by Late Middle French monne (whence Modern French mone (“monkey”)) or earlier Old French monnekin (“monkey”), originally Monnekin, the name of a monkey in Li Dis d'Entendement. Compare also Old French and Middle French monin (“monkey”). The French terms may have been borrowed from Italian monna (“monkey”), from Old Spanish mona (“female monkey”), itself a shortening of mamona, variant of maimón, from Arabic مَيْمُون (maymūn, “baboon”)). However, Old French monnekin may alternatively be unrelated to the other terms, instead being a borrowing of Early Middle Dutch mannekin (a diminutive of a personal name or surname; hence, nickname, literally “miniature man”).