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Dictionary Language resources

baboon

Syllabification: (ba·boon)

Pronunciation: /baˈbo͞on/

Translate baboon | into German | into Italian

Definition of baboon

noun

a large Old World ground-dwelling monkey with a long doglike snout, large teeth, and naked callosities on the buttocks. Baboons are social animals and live in troops.
- Genera Papio and Mandrillus, family Cercopithecidae: several species, including the drill and mandrill
an ugly or uncouth person.

Origin:

Middle English (denoting a grotesque figure used in architecture): from Old French babuin or medieval Latin babewynus, perhaps from Old French baboue 'muzzle, grimace'