monkey

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[edit] English

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A monkey.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology

From Low German; compare Middle Low German Moneke or Old Dutch *monnekijn, name of the ape’s son in the tale of Reynard the Fox, possibly from a Romance source with a Low German diminutive -ke, cf. Spanish mono, or from a variant of Old Dutch manneken "dwarf, little man", cf. Old French monnekin (--Hainault), diminuative of man, man.(Verification for this etymology is sought): More at mannequin, manikin

[edit] Noun

Singular
monkey

Plural
monkeys

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

Infinitive
to monkey

Third person singular
monkeys

Simple past
monkeyed or monkied

Past participle
[[monkeyed or monkied]]

Present participle
monkeying

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] Related terms

[edit] See also

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