gorilla

B1 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ɡəˈɹɪl.ə/ UK /ɡəˈɹɪl.ə/ See IPA manual

Homophones

guerrilla /ɡəˈɹɪlə/

Freq #7947

Meanings

1

noun
A very large, powerful ape that lives in the forests of central Africa.

The gorilla is the largest of all the apes.
2

noun
A big, rough, violent man; a thug.

Two gorillas in dark suits guarded the door.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms gorillas

Derived forms buffarillachicagorillagoliragorillagramgorillalikegorillessgorilliangorilliongorilloidsherillaweregorilla

Related forms godzillagorillai

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

800-pound gorilla
the biggest, most powerful player in a market, which dominates everything around it

Proverbs (1)

See all

Where does a eight hundred-pound gorilla sit?

Simplified etymology

Gorilla was adopted in 1847 by the American missionary Thomas Savage as the name of the large ape. He took it from gorillai, a supposedly African term for a wild or hairy people preserved in a Greek translation of the Carthaginian explorer Hanno’s ancient account of West Africa.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Γόριλλαι (Górillai, “Gorillai (a tribe of hairy women)”), described by Hanno the Navigator, a Carthaginian navigator and possible visitor to the area that later became Sierra Leone; the Greek word is likely from Punic, and ultimately from an African language.

Γόριλλαι Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# gorilla

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɡəˈɹɪl.ə/
**IPA (UK):** /ɡəˈɹɪl.ə/
**Frequency rank:** 7947

## Meanings
1. A very large, powerful ape that lives in the forests of central Africa.
2. A big, rough, violent man; a thug.

## Examples
- The gorilla is the largest of all the apes.
- Two gorillas in dark suits guarded the door.

## Derived Forms
- buffarilla
- chicagorilla
- golira
- gorillagram
- gorillalike
- gorilless
- gorillian
- gorillion
- gorilloid
- sherilla
- weregorilla

## Related Forms
- godzilla
- gorillai

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: Γόριλλαι

## Etymology
From Ancient Greek Γόριλλαι (Górillai, “Gorillai (a tribe of hairy women)”), described by Hanno the Navigator, a Carthaginian navigator and possible visitor to the area that later became Sierra Leone; the Greek word is likely from Punic, and ultimately from an African language.

## AI Etymology
Gorilla comes from Ancient Greek Γόριλλαι (Górillai, “Gorillai (a tribe of hairy women)”), described by Hanno the Navigator, a Carthaginian navigator and possible visitor to the area that later became Sierra Leone; the Greek word is likely from Punic, and ultimately from an African language. In current use, the main senses are “A very large, powerful ape that lives in the forests of central Africa” and “A big, rough, violent man; a thug”.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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