Wiktionary

ape

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ape"
Languages (21)
Translingual • English
Afrikaans • Aromanian • Bangka • Corsican • Finnish • Interlingua • Italian • Latin • Malay • Mauritian Creole • Mbya Guarani • Middle English • Neapolitan • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old Prussian • Paraguayan Guarani • Romanian • Sardinian
Page categories

Translingual

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Etymology

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Abbreviation of English Arapesh.

Symbol

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ape

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Bukiyip.

See also

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
 
An ape: the silvery gibbon

Pronunciation

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  • enPR: āp, IPA(key): /eɪp/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪp

Etymology 1

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    From Middle English ape, from Old English apa (“ape, monkey”), from Proto-West Germanic *apō, from Proto-Germanic *apô (“monkey, ape”), possibly derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“water”), compare Proto-Celtic *abū (“river”) (hence English place name Avon, Irish abha, Welsh afon), if the word originally referred to a "water sprite".

    Traditionally assumed to be an ancient loanword instead, ultimately probably from an unidentified non-Indo-European language of regions in Africa or Asia where monkeys are native.

    Cognate with Scots aip (“ape”), West Frisian aap (“ape”), Dutch aap (“monkey, ape”), Low German Ape (“ape”), German Affe (“monkey, ape”), Swedish apa (“monkey, ape”), Icelandic api (“ape”).

    Noun

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    Wikidata has a Lexeme related to:

    ape (plural apes)

    1. An anthropoid of the superfamily Hominoidea, generally larger than monkeys and distinguished from them by having no tail.
      • 1528 October 12 (Gregorian calendar), William Tyndale, “William Tyndale other wise Called William Hychins vnto the Reader”, in The Obediẽce of a Christen Man […], [Antwerp]: [Johannes Hoochstraten], →OCLC, folio xix, recto:
        Of vvhat texte thou proveſt hell / vvill a nother prove purgatory / a nother lymbo patrum / and a nother the aſſumpcion of oure ladi: And a nother ſhall prove of the ſame texte that an Ape hath a tayle.
    2. A Hominoidea primate other than a human.
    3. (derogatory) An unintelligent or unsophisticated person, especially one who behaves irrationally or in an uncivilised manner.
      1. (derogatory, highly offensive, ethnic slur) A black person.
        • 2022 October, René Cornish, Kieran Tranter, “Dismissals for Social Media Hate Speech in South Africa: Animalistic Dehumanisation and the Circulation of Racist Words and Images”, in Springer Nature Link‎[1]:
          Animalistic dehumanisation, 'simianisation' and the animalising of black bodies through metaphorically likening these individuals to 'baboons,' 'monkeys' or 'apes' reveals racialised animality discourse in South Africa.
    4. One who apes; a foolish imitator.
    5. (Internet slang, Reddit) A person who invests in meme stock, especially one who uses subreddits such as /r/wallstreetbets.
      • 2021 February 18, Kate Briquelet, Arya Hodjat, anonymous quotee, “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Tears Into Robinhood CEO at GameStop Hearing: Meanwhile, Reddit's Roaring Kitty showed up for his congressional testimony with viral cat memes”, in Daily Beast‎[2], via EBSCOhost:
        I could not think of a better representation of the good in this world, let alone this r***[sic] band of apes on Reddit.
      • 2022 September 12, Ryan Cohen, “The Money Game: Jen Wieczner”, in New York‎[3], volume 55, number 19, via EBSCOhost, →ISSN, pages 14-15:
        The tragic consequences of Bed Bath & Beyond's whiplashing fortunes have cast an even darker cloud over Cohen's reputation. But in all likelihood the meme-stock phenomenon is here to stay--even if Cohen and his ilk are profiting off the backs of the "apes" who support them.
      • 2023 October, Misti Yang, Christopher Lee Adamczyk, “Gamestop Investors as an Eng(r)aged Digital Public”, in Javnost - The Public, volume 30, number 3, Routledge, →DOI, →ISSN, page 414:
        In their self-professed and commonly invoked role of “degenerates” and “apes,” r/wallstreetbets commenters regularly adopt language of worship for those they admire, and in the case of GameStop, DeepFuckingValue, aka Roaring Kitty, aka Keith Gill was deemed worthy.
      • 2024 May, Linea Munk Petersen, “Everything you need to know about WallStreetBets: An explainer of the online forum behind the GameStop short squeeze and its creatively subversive poetic terrorism”, in Ephemera: Theory & Politics in Organization‎[4], volume 24, number 2, via EBSCOhost, →ISSN, pages 239-240:
        It was however widely misinterpreted by mainstream media as an expression of the inability of the WallStreetBets members to make rational financial decisions (Pearkes, 2021)5. The argument that apes were incompetent investors was particularly reliant on one term: loss porn.
      • 2025 August 8, “DORKs: The return of ‘meme stock’ mania”, in Week‎[5], volume 25, number 1247, via EBSCOhost, →ISSN, page 33:
        With the economy humming and the stock market near record highs, the “apes” are back—and “in full-on risk mode.”
    Hyponyms
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    Derived terms
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    Descendants
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    • → Mokilese: ep
    Translations
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    Verb

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    Wikidata has a Lexeme related to:

    ape (third-person singular simple present apes, present participle aping or (uncommon) apeing, simple past and past participle aped)

    1. (intransitive) To behave like an ape.
    2. (transitive) To imitate or mimic, particularly to imitate poorly.
      • 1772, [Thomas Bridges], “Something by Way of Preface”, in A Burlesque Translation of Homer, London: Printed for S. Hooper, […], →OCLC:
        And well their dignity it ſuits, / To ape the gravity of brutes.
      • 1847, Emily Brontë, chapter XXI, in Wuthering Heights‎[6]:
        But there’s this difference; one is gold put to the use of paving-stones, and the other is tin polished to ape a service of silver.
      • 1961, J. A. Philip, “Mimesis in the Sophistês of Plato,”, in Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, volume 92, page 454:
        It is not conceived as a mere “aping” in externals nor as an enacting in the sense of assuming a foreign role.
      • 2010, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, New York: Random House, →ISBN, page 180:
        Every year a paper or a book appears, bemoaning the fate of economics and complaining about its attempts to ape physics.
    Derived terms
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    Translations
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    Etymology 2

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      Clipping of apeshit (“ape-shit (crazy)”).

      Adjective

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      ape (not comparable)

      1. (slang) Wild; crazy.
        We were ape over the new look.
        He went ape when he heard the bad news.
        • 2025 October 31, Trey Parker, “The Woman in the Hat”, in South Park, season 28, episode 2, spoken by Kyle Schwartz:
          Now we just need to create hype around the South Park Sucks Now digital coin, so we need to come up with things to give people FOMO and make them ape even harder.

      See also

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      Anagrams

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      Afrikaans

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      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      ape

      1. plural of aap

      Aromanian

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      Etymology

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      From Latin aqua.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      ape f (plural api, definite articulation apa)

      1. alternative form of apã

      Bangka

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      Alternative forms

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      • apo (Belinyu dialect)

      Etymology

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      From Proto-Malayic *apa, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *apa. Cognate of Malay apa.

      Pronunciation

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      Pronoun

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      apè or apê

      1. what
        Ape kabar?
        How are you?
        (literally, “What's the news?”)

      Further reading

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      • "ape" in Susilo, Firman (2018), Kamus Bahasa Melayu Bangka – Indonesia [Bangka Malay – Indonesian Dictionary]‎[7] (in Indonesian), Pangkalpinang: Bangka-Belitung Language Center Office

      Corsican

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      Noun

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      ape

      1. plural of apa

      Finnish

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      Etymology

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      From Proto-Finnic *ap'ëk. Equivalent to appaa +‎ -e

      Pronunciation

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      • IPA(key): /ˈɑpeˣ/, [ˈɑ̝pe̞(ʔ)]
      • Rhymes: -ɑpe
      • Syllabification(key): a‧pe
      • Hyphenation(key): ape

      Noun

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      ape

      1. horse feed
      2. (colloquial) food

      Declension

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      Inflection of ape (Kotus type 48*B/hame, pp–p gradation)
      nominative ape appeet
      genitive appeen appeiden
      appeitten
      partitive apetta appeita
      illative appeeseen appeisiin
      appeihin
      singular plural
      nominative ape appeet
      accusative nom. ape appeet
      gen. appeen
      genitive appeen appeiden
      appeitten
      partitive apetta appeita
      inessive appeessa appeissa
      elative appeesta appeista
      illative appeeseen appeisiin
      appeihin
      adessive appeella appeilla
      ablative appeelta appeilta
      allative appeelle appeille
      essive appeena appeina
      translative appeeksi appeiksi
      abessive appeetta appeitta
      instructive — appein
      comitative See the possessive forms below.
      Possessive forms of ape (Kotus type 48*B/hame, pp–p gradation)
      first-person singular possessor
      singular plural
      nominative appeeni appeeni
      accusative nom. appeeni appeeni
      gen. appeeni
      genitive appeeni appeideni
      appeitteni
      partitive apettani appeitani
      inessive appeessani appeissani
      elative appeestani appeistani
      illative appeeseeni appeisiini
      appeihini
      adessive appeellani appeillani
      ablative appeeltani appeiltani
      allative appeelleni appeilleni
      essive appeenani appeinani
      translative appeekseni appeikseni
      abessive appeettani appeittani
      instructive — —
      comitative — appeineni
      second-person singular possessor
      singular plural
      nominative appeesi appeesi
      accusative nom. appeesi appeesi
      gen. appeesi
      genitive appeesi appeidesi
      appeittesi
      partitive apettasi appeitasi
      inessive appeessasi appeissasi
      elative appeestasi appeistasi
      illative appeeseesi appeisiisi
      appeihisi
      adessive appeellasi appeillasi
      ablative appeeltasi appeiltasi
      allative appeellesi appeillesi
      essive appeenasi appeinasi
      translative appeeksesi appeiksesi
      abessive appeettasi appeittasi
      instructive — —
      comitative — appeinesi
      first-person plural possessor
      singular plural
      nominative appeemme appeemme
      accusative nom. appeemme appeemme
      gen. appeemme
      genitive appeemme appeidemme
      appeittemme
      partitive apettamme appeitamme
      inessive appeessamme appeissamme
      elative appeestamme appeistamme
      illative appeeseemme appeisiimme
      appeihimme
      adessive appeellamme appeillamme
      ablative appeeltamme appeiltamme
      allative appeellemme appeillemme
      essive appeenamme appeinamme
      translative appeeksemme appeiksemme
      abessive appeettamme appeittamme
      instructive — —
      comitative — appeinemme
      second-person plural possessor
      singular plural
      nominative appeenne appeenne
      accusative nom. appeenne appeenne
      gen. appeenne
      genitive appeenne appeidenne
      appeittenne
      partitive apettanne appeitanne
      inessive appeessanne appeissanne
      elative appeestanne appeistanne
      illative appeeseenne appeisiinne
      appeihinne
      adessive appeellanne appeillanne
      ablative appeeltanne appeiltanne
      allative appeellenne appeillenne
      essive appeenanne appeinanne
      translative appeeksenne appeiksenne
      abessive appeettanne appeittanne
      instructive — —
      comitative — appeinenne
      third-person possessor
      singular plural
      nominative appeensa appeensa
      accusative nom. appeensa appeensa
      gen. appeensa
      genitive appeensa appeidensa
      appeittensa
      partitive apettaan
      apettansa       		appeitaan
      appeitansa
      inessive appeessaan
      appeessansa       		appeissaan
      appeissansa
      elative appeestaan
      appeestansa       		appeistaan
      appeistansa
      illative appeeseensa appeisiinsa
      appeihinsa
      adessive appeellaan
      appeellansa       		appeillaan
      appeillansa
      ablative appeeltaan
      appeeltansa       		appeiltaan
      appeiltansa
      allative appeelleen
      appeellensa       		appeilleen
      appeillensa
      essive appeenaan
      appeenansa       		appeinaan
      appeinansa
      translative appeekseen
      appeeksensa       		appeikseen
      appeiksensa
      abessive appeettaan
      appeettansa       		appeittaan
      appeittansa
      instructive — —
      comitative — appeineen
      appeinensa

      Derived terms

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      compounds

      Further reading

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      Interlingua

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      Etymology

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      From Latin apis, apem.

      Noun

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      ape (plural apes)

      1. bee
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      Italian

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      Alternative forms

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      Etymology

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        Inherited from Latin apem.

        Pronunciation

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        Noun

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        ape f (plural api)

        1. (entomology) bee
          Synonym: pecchia
        2. (colloquial) honeybee
          Synonyms: ape da miele, ape domestica

        Derived terms

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        Further reading

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        Anagrams

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        Latin

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        Verb

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        ape

        1. second-person singular present active imperative of apō

        References

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        Malay

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        Pronunciation

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        Pronoun

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        ape

        1. (text messaging) pronunciation spelling of apa, representing schwa-variety Malay

        Mauritian Creole

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        Alternative forms

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        Etymology

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        From French après. Compare Haitian Creole ap.

        Pronunciation

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        Verb

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        ape (medial form ape)

        1. (auxiliary) Used to indicate present progressive tense or the continuous tense in general, commonly shortened to "pe" in speech.
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        Mbya Guarani

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        Noun

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        ape (non-possessed form tape)

        1. path
        2. road, street

        Middle English

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        Alternative forms

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        Etymology

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          From Old English apa, from Proto-West Germanic *apō, from Proto-Germanic *apô.

          Pronunciation

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          Noun

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          ape (plural apes or (rare) apen)

          1. An ape or monkey; a simian creature.
          2. A deceiver; a conman or charlatan.
          3. A gullible or foolish person.

          Descendants

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          References

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          Neapolitan

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          Noun

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          ape

          1. plural of apa

          Norwegian Bokmål

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          Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
          Wikipedia no

          Pronunciation

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          Etymology 1

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          From Old Norse api.

          Noun

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          ape f or m (definite singular apa or apen, indefinite plural aper, definite plural apene)

          1. ape, monkey
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          Etymology 2

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          Verb

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          ape (imperative ap, present tense aper, passive apes, simple past apa or apet or apte, past participle apa or apet or apt, present participle apende)

          1. to ape, mimic or imitate.

          References

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          Norwegian Nynorsk

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          Etymology 1

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          From Old Norse api.

          Noun

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          ape m (definite singular apen, indefinite plural apar, definite plural apane)

          ape f (definite singular apa, indefinite plural aper, definite plural apene)

          1. ape, monkey
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          Etymology 2

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          Verb

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          ape (present tense apar, past tense apa, past participle apa, passive infinitive apast, present participle apande, imperative ape/ap)

          1. e-infinitive form of apa

          References

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          Old Prussian

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          Etymology

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          From Proto-Baltic *āpē-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“water”).

          Noun

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          ape

          1. river
          2. stream

          Derived terms

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          References

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          Paraguayan Guarani

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          Pronunciation

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          Noun

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          ape

          1. back, the rear of the body.
          2. Of an animal, fruit, vegetable, etc., shell

          References

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          Romanian

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          Pronunciation

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          Noun

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          ape

          1. inflection of apă:
            1. plural
            2. genitive/dative singular

          Sardinian

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          Alternative forms

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          Etymology

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          From Latin apis, apem. Compare Logudorese abe, Campidanese abi.

          Pronunciation

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          Noun

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          ape f (plural apes)

          1. (Nuorese) bee

          Derived terms

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          References

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          • Wagner, Max Leopold (1960–1964), Dizionario etimologico sardo, Heidelberg
          • Rubattu, Antoninu (2006), Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes
          Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=ape&oldid=90560143"