gibbon
/ˈɡɪbən/
gibbon noun: a small, arboreal ape of the family Hylobatidae with long limbs, which they use to travel through tropical rainforests by swinging from branch to branch.
Noun
gibbon (plural gibbons)
- A small, arboreal ape of the family Hylobatidae with long limbs, which they use to travel through tropical 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.1950, Evelyn Waugh, Helena
- Synonyms:
- hylobatid, lesser ape
Proper noun capitalized: Gibbon
Gibbon
- A surname.
gibbon meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
gibbon in Hindi
- small ape
- लंगूर laṅgūr
gibbon in Tamil
- கிப்பன் குரங்கினம்
gibbon in Urdu
- ہندوستانی بندر
gibbon in Bengali
- একটি ছোটো
More languagesFewer languages
- gibbon in Assamese
- গিবন gibon
- gibbon in Arabic
- غِيبُون ḡibūn/jibawn/jibun, جِبَّوْن ḡibūn/jibawn/jibun, جِبُون ḡibūn/jibawn/jibun
- gibbon in Malay
- ungka, uwa-uwa
- gibbon in Thai
- ชะนี chá-nii
- gibbon in Vietnamese
- vượn
- gibbon in Myanmar
- မျောက်လွှဲကျော် myaukhlwai:kyau
Synonyms of gibbon
Forms of gibbon
| plural | gibbons |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | guibon |
Origin of gibbon
Reborrowing from French gibbon, folk etymology (compare English Gibbon) ultimately from a Northern Aslian language (compare Batek kəboɲ).
From Old French Giboin, from Frankish *Gebawin (literally “Gift-friend”).
Words formed from gibbon
- agile gibbon
- black-handed gibbon
- Bornean white-bearded gibbon
- capped gibbon
- common gibbon
- crested gibbon
- Hainan gibbon
- hoolock gibbon
- hulock gibbon
- Javan gibbon
- Kloss's gibbon
- kloss gibbon
- lar gibbon
- Mentawai gibbon
- northern buffed-cheeked gibbon
- pileated gibbon
- potto gibbon
- shitgibbon
- silvery gibbon
- white-cheeked gibbon
- white-handed gibbon
- yellow-cheeked gibbon
- Gibbonesque
- Gibbonian
- Marsh Gibbon
Words that rhyme with gibbon
Questions about gibbon
- What does gibbon mean?
- Gibbon means a small, arboreal ape of the family Hylobatidae with long limbs, which they use to travel through tropical rainforests by swinging from branch to branch.
- What is gibbon in Hindi?
- Gibbon in Hindi is लंगूर (laṅgūr). See Gibbon meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is gibbon?
- Gibbon can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce gibbon?
- Gibbon is pronounced /ˈɡɪbən/.
- What is the plural of gibbon?
- The plural of gibbon is gibbons.
Words near gibbon in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gibbon (page history and authors); Gibbon (page history and authors); gibbon (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); gibbon (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); gibbon (Bengali 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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gibbon.wav.
Cite this entry: “gibbon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gibbon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.