Rhesus

//ˈɹiːsəs// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A macaque monkey native to southern and southeastern Asia; Macaca mulatta.
  2. 2
    Denotes a system for categorising human blood types based on the presence or absence of various antigens, especially Rhesus factor D. also, attributive
  3. 3
    of southern Asia; used in medical research wordnet
  4. 4
    Alternative form of Rhesus. alt-of, alternative

Synonyms

All synonyms
rhesus monkeyapebhunderbhundergorillamacaca mulatta

Example

More examples

"The deputy mayor of Delhi was indirectly killed by rhesus monkeys."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From New Latin rhēsus, arbitrary formation from Latin Rhēsus, from Ancient Greek Ῥῆσος (Rhêsos), mythical Thracian king.

Etymology 2

So named because the first identified antigen (RhD) was originally believed to be the same as one discovered in rhesus macaques.

Related phrases

macaca mulatta

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