chimpanzee

IPA/ˌtʃɪmpænˈziː/
KK[tʃɪmpˈænzi]IPA/ˌtʃɪmpænˈziː/

chimpanzee — noun

  • chimpanzeesingular
  • chimpanzeesplural

1. a type of ape that lives in African forests and is known for being highly intell

1.nounB1
Definition

a type of ape that lives in African forests and is known for being highly intelligent, using tools, and living in large social groups

Example

Visitors watched a chimpanzee use a stick to pull fruit from a pipe.

tool use shown in context

The research team taught a young chimpanzee named Kofi to recognise numbers on a touchscreen.

intelligence demonstrated through learning task

Common collocations
  • young chimpanzee
  • wild chimpanzee
  • chimpanzee troop
  • chimpanzee research
Synonyms
  • chimp

    informal short form, common in everyday conversation

  • ape

    broader category that includes chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and bonobos

Usage Note

Chimpanzee is a countable noun. Its plural form is chimpanzees. To refer to the species in general, use the plural without an article: 'Chimpanzees are highly social animals.'

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words refer to primates but differ in scope and meaning. 'Monkey' is the broadest everyday term — it covers most non-human primates with tails, but it is not a precise biological group. 'Ape' is a narrower category: apes (including chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and bonobos) are larger, lack tails, and have larger brains relative to body size. 'Chimpanzee' refers specifically to the common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), while 'bonobo' is a separate species (Pan paniscus) that looks similar but has a different social structure. 'Chimp' is an informal shortening of 'chimpanzee' used in casual speech. For example: 'We saw monkeys at the park' is too general for a nature documentary, but 'The chimp used a twig to catch termites' is natural and precise.

chimp ↗ape ↗bonobomonkey ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • common chimpanzee
  • wild chimpanzee population

Prepositions

  • among chimpanzees
  • of chimpanzees

Etymology

Bantu (Kuba)English

The word 'chimpanzee' entered English in the 1730s from a Bantu language of Central Africa, possibly Kuba (Bushongo) or a neighbouring language, where a term like 'kivili-chimpenze' referred to the ape. Early European travellers adapted the word to describe the animal they encountered in West and Central Africa.