Dictionary

apeman en · NOUN

Etymology

From ape + man.

Meanings

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. 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
2. A human raised from childhood by apes (generally in reference to, or in imitation of, the fictional character Tarzan).
   • Weissmuller introduced the Ape Man's famous victory cry, a recorded blend of a soprano's high C, a hyena howl played backwards, a camel's bleat, the twang of a violin string and an Olympic hero bellowing at the top of his voice. It was echoed in neighbourhoods from Cardiff to California, followed by the sound of snapping arms and legs as kids toppled from trees, casualty departments packed with failed young ape men. 2014 August 12, The South Wales Echo, Cardiff, page 25:
   • Like countless other ape men, this Tarzan (who is voiced by Tony Goldwyn, but looks like a dreadlocked Calvin Klein model) is raised to feral hunkdom by a gorilla couple, Kala (Glenn Close) and Kerchak (Lance Henrikson), who disagree on the appropriateness of introducing human children to the brute society of American-accented apes. 1999 June 18, The Toronto Star, page 1:
   • Human Nature has as its hero a caged ape man, and, like him, it has been hanging around for quite a while awaiting release. 2002 December 26, Sydney Morning Herald:
   • 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? 1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, New York: Grosset and Dunlap, page 115:
   • Apes leap to and fro, ape men swing from trees, and even a giant, menacing spider gets in on the act. 2013 July 25, The Battle Creek Enquirer, Michigan, page 3:
3. A reputed or legendary, large, bipedal, ape-like creature, as Bigfoot or the Yeti, or a primitive australopithecine still extant today.

Forms

Relateds

ape-person · apewoman

Translations (17)

pt homem-macaco (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · nl aapmens (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · de Frühmensch (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · de Urmensch (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · et ahvinimene (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · fi apinaihminen (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · hu majomember (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · de Java-Mensch (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · cmn 猿人 (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · fr homme-singe (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · af oermens (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · kmr mirovê meymûn (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · ru обезьяночелове́к (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · pl małpolud (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · el πιθηκάνθρωπος (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · tr maymun adam (prehistoric man resembling an ape) · sv apmänniska (prehistoric man resembling an ape)