Gorillai
name ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A tribe of hairy women described by Hanno the Navigator. historical
"Mr D. cenſures Voſſius for imagining that the Gorgons and Gorillæ had any reference to each other; and obſerves, that it was not the Greeks, nor even the Carthaginian Hanno himſelf, who gave them this appellation, but the interpreters, whom they had procured from the Lixitæ; and that it is probable, that this word Gorillæ is of African origin, whereas the word Gorgon is a Greek word. / But Voſſius might think, that there was ſome connection between them, when almoſt all the writers of antiquity place the Gorgons nearly at leaſt in the ſame ſituation in which Hanno ſays that he diſcovered the Gorillæ."
Example
More examples"Mr D. cenſures Voſſius for imagining that the Gorgons and Gorillæ had any reference to each other; and obſerves, that it was not the Greeks, nor even the Carthaginian Hanno himſelf, who gave them this appellation, but the interpreters, whom they had procured from the Lixitæ; and that it is probable, that this word Gorillæ is of African origin, whereas the word Gorgon is a Greek word. / But Voſſius might think, that there was ſome connection between them, when almoſt all the writers of antiquity place the Gorgons nearly at leaſt in the ſame ſituation in which Hanno ſays that he diſcovered the Gorillæ."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek Γόριλλαι (Górillai, “Gorillai”). Doublet of gorilla.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.