chimpanzee (English)

Where does "chimpanzee" come from?

The English noun 'chimpanzee' has its roots in an unspecified Bantu language of Angola[1], specifically sharing cognates with forms like Vili 'ci-mpenzi'[1]. The term entered European languages via French 'chimpanzé'[1][2], and the first recorded use of the name in English dates to 1738[1].

Open questions

• The exact Bantu source language remains unspecified beyond a likely origin in Angola. [1]

Full etymology tree

• chimpanzee (English), 'Pan troglodytes, a species of great ape native to the savannas and forests of Africa, and believed by biologists to be the closest extant relative to humans along with the bonobo.'
  • borrowed chimpanzé (French), 'chimpanzee (ape)'
    • borrowed (Bantu language)

Ancestors

• chimpanzé (French)

Descendants and derived words

• antichimpanzee (English)
• central chimpanzee (English)
• ChHV (English)
• chimp (English)
• chimp (English)
• Chimpanese (English)
• chimpanzee fire (English)
• chimpanzeelike (English)
• chimpanzoid (English)
• chuman (English)
• dwarf chimpanzee (English)
• humanzee (English)

Sources

1. chimpanzee (English) - Wiktionary
2. chimpanzé (French) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris