monkey

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Translations 1.4 Verb 1.5 Derived terms 1.6 See also

[edit] English

Wikipedia

[edit] Pronunciation

• enPR: mŭngki, IPA: /ˈmʌŋki/, SAMPA: /"mVNki/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

  Rhymes: -ʌŋki

[edit] Etymology

Perhaps from Middle Low German *moneke (attested as the name of the ape’s son in the tale of Reynard the Fox), probably a diminutive formation from Middle French monne ( > French mone), itself from Italian monna or Spanish mono, probably shortened from maymon, from Arabic ميمون (“‘blessed’”) (conjectured to have been applied in a euphemistic sense). Compare mannequin, manikin.

[edit] Noun

monkey (plural monkeys)

1. Any of several members of the infra-order Simiiformes of primates, generally smaller than the apes, and distinguished from them by having a tail and cheek pouches.
2. (informal) A mischievous child.

   Stop misbehaving, you little monkey!

3. (British, slang) Five-hundred pounds sterling.
4. (slang) A person or the role of the person on the sidecar platform of a motorcycle involved in sidecar racing.
5. (slang) A person with minimal inteligence and/or (bad) looks .
6. (rare, pejorative, slang) A dark-skinned person, especially a person of, or primarily of, Negro descent. See also nigger and/or jigaboo.
7. (slang) A face card in blackjack

[edit] Translations

[edit] Verb

to monkey (third-person singular simple present monkeys, present participle monkeying, simple past and past participle monkeyed or monkied)

1. (informal) To meddle; to mess with; to interfere; to fiddle.

   Please don't monkey with the controls if you don't know what you're doing.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] See also

• ape
• primate