baboon
UK/bəˈbuːn//ˌbæˈbuːn/
baboon noun: an Old World monkey of the genus Papio, having dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks.
Noun
baboon (plural baboons)
- An Old World monkey of the genus Papio, having dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks.
- Mix swallowed the comment he wanted to make, that the council hall stank like a congress of baboons. But he was in no position to insult his host, nor should he. The man was only expressing the attitude of his time.1971, Philip José Farmer, Down in the Black Gang: and others; a story collection, Nelson Doubleday, page 79
- He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.2012 March-April, John T. Jost, “Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)?”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 21 Jun 2017, page 162
- A foolish, stupid or incompetent person.
- A black person.
- The 50-year-old steel worker said he had meant to type Sawyers should win the "buffoon d'Or". He claimed a misspelling, of "bafoon", had autocorrected on his device to "baboon".2021 November, “Romaine Sawyers: Albion fan jailed for racist post loses appeal”, in BBC
- Animalistic dehumanisation, 'simianisation' and the animalising of black bodies through metaphorically likening these individuals to 'baboons,' 'monkeys' or 'apes' reveals racialised animality discourse in South Africa.2022 October, René Cornish, Kieran Tranter, “Dismissals for Social Media Hate Speech in South Africa: Animalistic Dehumanisation and the Circulation of Racist Words and Images”, in Springer Nature...
- A black person.
baboon meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali
baboon in Hindi
- primate
- बबून babūn
baboon in Tamil
- வாலிலாக் குரங்கு
baboon in Marathi
- primate
- बबून babūn
baboon in Bengali
- বাবুন, বড় বানর
More languagesFewer languages
- baboon in Malayalam
- ഒരിനം വലിയ കുരങ്ങ്
- baboon in Kannada
- ದೊಡ್ಡಗಾತ್ರದ ಕಪಿ
- baboon in Arabic
- رُبَّاح rubbāḥ, بَابُون bābūn
- baboon in Malay
- babun
- baboon in Persian
- عنتر 'antar, بابون bâbun
- baboon in Thai
- บาบูน baa-buun
- baboon in Vietnamese
- khỉ đầu chó
Examples of baboon in a sentence
- I just watched a crazy video where a solo leopard attacked a flange of baboons.
- The ancient baboon, Papio angusticeps, is the first nonhominin primate found at the site.
- I suspect they hired a flange of baboons to mind the house.
Forms of baboon
| plural | baboons |
|---|---|
| alternative form | babian |
| alternative form | babion |
Origin of baboon
Inherited from Middle English babewin, baboin, from Old French babouin, from baboue (“grimace; muzzle”) (whence French babouin), from an imitative origin. According to Oxford English Dictionary, it was an imitative base *bab-, which is in turn from the (reduplicated) syllable ba, characteristic of early infantile vocalization (and expressive of the movement of the lips in speech). French babouin was also borrowed into other European languages. Confer Vulgar Latin babouinus ("a grimace"), Vulgar Latin babuinare ("to paint marginal figures in manuscripts"), Italian babbuino, babuino (“baboon”), Dutch baviaan (“baboon”), German Pavian (“baboon”) For the sense of infant imitation, see English babble (“to blather”), English babe (“darling”), English baby (“infant”).
Words formed from baboon
- antibaboon
- Anubis baboon
- Arabian baboon
- baboonery
- babooness
- babooning
- baboonish
- baboonize
- baboonlike
- baboon-monkey
- baboon spider
- baboon syndrome
- Cape baboon
- chacma baboon
- dog-faced baboon
- gelada baboon
- Guinea baboon
- hamadryas baboon
- huboon
- Kinda baboon
- lion-tailed baboon
- olive baboon
- orange baboon tarantula
- sacred baboon
- sheboon
- sphinx baboon
- ursine baboon
- western baboon
- wood baboon
- yellow baboon
Phrases with baboon
Words that rhyme with baboon
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- croon
- blue moon
- boon
- monsoon
- noon
- pontoon
- raccoon
- tribune
- attune
- dragoon
- hoon
- immune
- picayune
- platoon
- soon
- swoon
- tycoon
- afternoon
- commune
- doubloon
- harpoon
- jejune
- pantaloon
- picaroon
- shalloon
- bassoon
- buffoon
- cocoon
- dabloon
- entune
- gadroon
- hewn
- impugn
- jargoon
- june
- lacune
- last chance saloon
- lune
- macaroon
- man in the moon
- maroon
- poon
- puccoon
- ratoon
- scone
- toon
- trial balloon
- troon
Questions about baboon
- What does baboon mean?
- Baboon means an Old World monkey of the genus Papio, having dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks.
- What is baboon in Hindi?
- Baboon in Hindi is बबून (babūn). See Baboon meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is baboon?
- Baboon is a noun.
- How do you pronounce baboon?
- Baboon is pronounced /bəˈbuːn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of baboon?
- The plural of baboon is baboons.
Words near baboon in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: baboon (page history and authors); baboon (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); baboon (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); baboon (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); baboon (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-baboon.ogg.
Cite this entry: “baboon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/baboon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.