Gibbon

//ˈɡɪbən// name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A small ape of the family Hylobatidae with long limbs, which they use to travel through rainforests by swinging from branch to branch.

    "'[…] Suppose that in years to come, when the Church's troubles seem to be over, there should come an apostate of my own trade, a false historian, with the mind of Cicero or Tacitus and the soul of an animal,' and he nodded towards the gibbon who fretted his golden chain and chattered for fruit."

  2. 2
    smallest and most perfectly anthropoid arboreal ape having long arms and no tail; of southern Asia and East Indies wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
apeedward gibbongorillahylobates larhylobatidlesser ape

Example

More examples

"Edward Gibbon wrote a book about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Reborrowing from French gibbon, folk etymology (compare English Gibbon) ultimately from a Northern Aslian language (compare Batek kəboɲ).

Etymology 2

From Old French Giboin, from Frankish *Gebawin (literally “Gift-friend”).

Related phrases

Bornean white-bearded gibbonHainan gibbonJavan gibbonKloss's gibbonMarsh GibbonMentawai gibbonagile gibbonblack-handed gibboncapped gibboncommon gibboncrested gibbonhoolock gibbon

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.