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Glite Dictionary
hominoid

hominoid

1 8.5
An animal like a human or ape, including animals that lived long ago
  • noun
  • /ˈhɒmɪnɔɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : hominoide
  • The museum exhibit featured a life-sized model of a hominoid, showcasing its similarities to both modern apes and humans.
  • early hominoids
  • hominoid gap

Examples

  • Community, on the other hand, is a particular, direct product of our biology consisting of countless elements, the roots of which reside in social organizations going back to the early hominoids and before.

    Academic text (1992)

  • The discovery of a new hominoid fossil could change our understanding of human evolution.

  • Scientists have found several hominoid species in the fossil record that lived millions of years ago.

Surface Forms

hominoid singular
hominoids plural

Morphology

hominoid = homin + oid

The combining form 'homin-' is not a standalone English word and is unfamiliar to most learners, and the scientific suffix '-oid' ('resembling') is also specialized, so the meaning is not readily derivable by an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Hominoid comes from parts that mean 'human' and 'like': homin- ('human') and -oid ('like' or 'resembling'), the same -oid you see in humanoid or asteroid. So a hominoid is 'human-like', which is why scientists use it for apes, humans and their close relatives.