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orangutan

orangutan

24 3.7
A large ape that lives in trees with long arms and red-brown hair from Borneo and Sumatra
  • noun
  • /ɔːrˈæŋʊtæn/
: orangután
  • In addition, the researchers found that a third of orangutans in U.S. zoos are hybrids.
  • orangutan population
  • orangutan species
  • gorillas and orangutans

You know, Can you say that humans are smarter than orangutans?

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Examples

  • The first visit to the Kinabatangan River produced six sightings of solitary orangutans.

    Academic text (2008)
  • A-list species, such as orangutans or rhinos, are bypassed by all the attention and funding as a result.

    Academic text (2011)
  • During the day, a juvenile male orangutan moved noisily through the trees quite close to the complex dining room.

    Academic text (2008)
  • In the forest, a multitude of orangutans looked at us passing by.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • "You know those Earthwatch trips where you get to help with the orangutan research in Borneo?

    Fiction book (2002)
  • What is so emotional about seeing orangutans living free is that they appear to be on the brink of extinction.

    Academic text (2008)
  • And you see one example of this in orangutans, orangutans, great apes, and they've got a very interesting, bizarre social system.

  • What makes up for Sandakan's prosaic demeanor is an afternoon at the nearby Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary.

    Academic text (2008)
  • But primates, I'm talking about chimps, baboons, orangutans, the whole group have a much deeper, a much more complex social organization.

  • The orangutan swung gracefully from branch to branch in the rainforest.

Synonyms

orang
vsorangutan
3 4.6

A large ape with long arms that lives in trees in Borneo and Sumatra

focuses on its reddish-brown hair rather than just tree living
Pongo pygmaeus
vsorangutan
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A large orangutan with long arms that lives in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra

is the common general name covering both Bornean and Sumatran types

Surface Forms

orangutan singular
orangutans plural

Etymology

The word orangutan comes from Malay words orang 'person' and hutan 'forest', so it literally means 'person of the forest' and helps you remember that this large, long-armed ape lives in the rainforests.