Orangutan
/ˌɒr.æŋˈuː.tæn/noun
A large reddish-brown ape native to Borneo and Sumatra.
Did you know?The word comes from Malay/Indonesian, where orang means “person” and hutan means “forest,” so early Europeans were borrowing a name that framed the ape as a forest-dwelling person rather than a monster.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
PMP
*qOrang
“person, human being”
Malay/Indonesian
Malay
orang
“person, human”
Malay/Indonesian
Malay
hutan
“forest, woods”
17th Century
Dutch
orang-oetan
“a great ape of the East Indies”
18th Century
English
orang-outang
“a large ape of Southeast Asia”
Modern English
English
orangutan
“a large reddish-brown ape native to Borneo and Sumatra”