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Added 6 October 2026

ape

/eɪp/ noun

In Latin: sīmia, sīmius, clūra Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about ape at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all.
Someone who copies the words or behavior of another.
Person who resembles a nonhuman primate.

verb

Imitate uncritically and in every aspect.
Her little brother apes her behavior
Represent in or produce a caricature of.
The drawing caricatured the President

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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