Chimp
/tʃɪmp/noun
A chimpanzee; a great ape native to central and western Africa.
Did you know?The full word chimpanzee comes from a Bantu-language source in central Africa, but the shorter form chimp is a later English clipping, not an old tribal word.
Etymological Timeline
1700s
Bantu
(source form uncertain)
“A local African name for the ape, later borrowed into European languages.”
1730s
Portuguese
chimpanzé
“A borrowed form used for the ape in European accounts.”
18th Century
French
chimpanzé
“The ape, from African source languages via European travel writing.”
18th Century
English
chimpanzee
“The great ape.”
20th Century
English
chimp
“A shortened colloquial form of chimpanzee.”
Explore more surprising origins