baboon

C2+ Topic:Animals

US /bæˈbun/ UK /bəˈbuːn/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a large African or Arabian ground-dwelling monkey with a dog-like muzzle

A troop of baboons scattered across the dusty road.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a large african or arabian... ape monkey primate

Simplified etymology

Baboon was first used in Middle English for a grotesque carving such as a gargoyle. It probably comes from Old French babouine, meaning “fool, grotesque, monkey,” perhaps formed in imitation of a babbling sound; by about 1400 the English word denoted the long-snouted monkey.

Etymology

From Middle English babewyn, from Old French babuin ('baboon; gaping figure, grotesque'), perhaps from baboue ('grimace') of imitative origin.

babuin Old French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Animals

External links

# baboon

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /bæˈbun/
**IPA (UK):** /bəˈbuːn/

## Meanings
1. a large African or Arabian ground-dwelling monkey with a dog-like muzzle

## Examples
- A troop of baboons scattered across the dusty road.

## Synonyms
- ape
- monkey
- primate

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: babuin

## Etymology
From Middle English babewyn, from Old French babuin ('baboon; gaping figure, grotesque'), perhaps from baboue ('grimace') of imitative origin.

## AI Etymology
baboon comes from Middle English babewyn, from Old French babuin ('baboon; gaping figure, grotesque'), perhaps from baboue ('grimace') of imitative origin. The explanation preserves that uncertainty: the proposed comparisons illuminate the form, but they do not turn the word into a securely traced inheritance or borrowing. In modern use, the noun sense is "a large African or Arabian ground-dwelling monkey with a dog-like muzzle", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. Its nearest semantic neighbors include ape, monkey, primate, but the etymology gives the word its own historical profile within that field. The principal historical forms in the chain include Old French babuin, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Animals

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