Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🐒 Raised by apes 🦴 Early human ancestor
ape-man

ape-man

1 9.9
A person raised by apes in stories or myths
  • noun
  • /ˈeɪpˌmæn/
  • Literature
translation icon : hombre mono
  • The human brute swings his battle hammer and knocks the ape-man out cold.

Examples

  • I think he's just got more self-control than you western ape-men.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • In the movie, the young boy was raised by apes and grew up to become an ape-man who could communicate with them.

  • The legend of the ape-man fascinated the children, who imagined him living in the jungle alongside wild animals.

  • In her story, the ape-man defended his home in the forest from any intruders who threatened the peaceful animal life.

Surface Forms

ape-man singular
ape-men plural

Morphology

ape-man = ape + man (transparent) = ape + man

The meaning is a straightforward combination of 'ape' + 'man' (an ape-like or partly ape human), which is directly inferable from the components.

Etymology

Ape-man is a clear compound of ape ('large monkey') and man ('human'), so it paints the picture of a person who lives or grows up like an ape in stories and myths, which is why it means a fictional person raised by apes.