bonobo

noun

bo·​no·​bo bə-ˈnō-bō How to pronounce bonobo (audio) ˈbä-nə-bō How to pronounce bonobo (audio)
-nō-
plural bonobos
: a rare anthropoid ape (Pan paniscus) that has a more slender build and longer limbs than the related common chimpanzee (P. troglodytes) and that inhabits a small geographic region in equatorial Africa south of the Congo River

called also pygmy chimpanzee

Examples of bonobo in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The button board approach with dogs is similar to experimental methods that have been used with chimpanzees and bonobos in the past. Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 12 Dec. 2024 Key among potential insights is what bonobos can teach researchers about humans. Dennis Romero, NBC News, 27 Oct. 2024 Caesar, the ape revolutionary who led the chimps, gorillas, orangutans, bonobos, and gibbons to dominance in the reboot trilogy, is long dead by the time Kingdom’s action begins. James Grebey, TIME, 10 May 2024 Such behavior doesn’t appear to be a turn-off for female bonobos, who prefer to mate with more combative males—although bonobo matriarchs may limit the males’ aggressive outbursts, the authors suggest. science.org, 8 Apr. 2020 See all Example Sentences for bonobo 

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1955, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bonobo was in 1955

Dictionary Entries Near bonobo

Cite this Entry

“Bonobo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bonobo. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Medical Definition

bonobo

noun
: a rare anthropoid ape of the genus Pan (P. paniscus) that has a more slender build and longer limbs than the related common chimpanzee (P. troglodytes)

called also pygmy chimpanzee

More from Merriam-Webster on bonobo

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