Orang-Outang
/ˌɔːræŋ ˈuːtæŋ/noun
An orangutan, a large tree-dwelling ape native to the forests of Southeast Asia.
Did you know?The name comes from Malay orang hutan, meaning “person of the forest,” and early European writers sometimes treated the animal as a near-human being with speech and reasoning abilities.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
PMP
*qaRta
“Person or human being; the reconstructed ancestor of Malay orang”
Before the 17th Century
Malay
orang
“Person or human”
Before the 17th Century
Malay
hutan
“Forest or wilderness”
17th Century
Malay
orang hutan
“Person of the forest; the animal now called an orangutan”
17th Century
Dutch
orang-oetan
“A forest person; a Dutch rendering of the Malay expression”
18th Century
English
orang-outang
“An orangutan, with English spelling influenced by Dutch and other European forms”
Modern English
English
orang-outang
“An established variant spelling of orangutan”