slow loris

1 8.0

A small night animal like a monkey with big eyes that moves slowly

noun
/sloʊ ˈlɔːrɪs/

: loris perezoso

A slow loris moves cautiously to avoid predators in its natural habitat during the dark hours.

Examples

Malay civets, clouded leopards, slow lorises, and the unique flying lemur may be seen in the beam of a spotlight at night.

Academic text (2008)
And this species is a slow loris, very cute type of primate.
The slow loris is known for its large eyes and gentle movements as it climbs through the trees at night.
In Southeast Asia, the slow loris can often be spotted searching for food among the branches.

Synonyms

loris

vsslow loris

Indian

1 7.7

A small slow-moving animal like a monkey with very large eyes that lives in trees at night

is narrower meaning the stockier nocturnal form found only in Southeast Asia

Nycticebus

vsslow loris

Specialized

9.9

A group of slow animals that live in trees and are active at night in Southeast Asia

is the common descriptive name used instead of the scientific term

Surface Forms

slow loris singular

slow lorises plural

Morphology

slow + loris

The noun is a straightforward adjective + noun compound where the meaning is literally 'a loris that is slow' (i.e., a slow-moving loris). This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and would be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

The name slow loris comes from the animal's slow way of moving and the old word loris, which may come from Dutch 'loeris' meaning 'clown' because its big round eyes and careful, slow moves looked strange to early travellers. So the name paints a clear picture of the small, slow primate we mean today.