Apeman
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A prehistoric man resembling an ape, especially one held to be a precursor to modern humans; a non-human australopithecine.
"Only above the eyebrows, where the sloping forehead and low, curved skull of the ape-man were in sharp contrast to the broad brow and magnificent cranium of the European, could one see any marked difference."
- 2 A human raised from childhood by apes (generally in reference to, or in imitation of, the fictional character Tarzan).
"How may we judge him, by what standards, this ape-man with the heart and head and body of an English gentleman, and the training of a wild beast?"
- 3 A reputed or legendary, large, bipedal, ape-like creature, as Bigfoot or the Yeti, or a primitive australopithecine still extant today.
Example
More examples"Only above the eyebrows, where the sloping forehead and low, curved skull of the ape-man were in sharp contrast to the broad brow and magnificent cranium of the European, could one see any marked difference."
Etymology
From ape + man.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.