orangutan

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 in Smaradahana in the form of uraŋutan and wuraŋutan. The usage of the word to refer to the apes in these texts opposes the belief of the name orangutan originating from a European source.

noun

1. Any of three species of arboreal anthropoid ape, characterised by their shaggy reddish-brown coat and long arms, which comprise the genus Pongo; Pongo pygmaeus of Borneo, Pongo abelii of Sumatra or Pongo tapanuliensis of South Tapanuli (in Sumatra).