orangután (Spanish)

Where does "orangután" come from?

The word orangutan originates from the Malay phrase 'orang utan,' which literally translates to 'forest man,' combining the words for 'person' and 'forest.' While it was adopted into European languages like English and Dutch to describe the great ape, the term itself dates back to ancient Malay and Javanese texts. It eventually entered Spanish as a direct loanword from English, replacing older local names for the animal like 'mawas'.

Full etymology tree

• orangután (Spanish), 'orangutan'
  • borrowed orangutan (English), 'An arboreal ape, characterised by their shaggy reddish-brown coat and long arms, which comprise the genus Pongo, native to Borneo and Sumatra.'
    • derived orang utan (Malay), 'orangutan (arboreal anthropoid ape).'
      • compound orang (Malay), 'person; people'
        • inherited *uraŋ (Proto-Malayic), 'human being; people; person'
          • inherited *uʀaŋ (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian)
      • compound utan (Malay), 'misspelling of hutan'
        • inherited *hutan (Proto-Malayic), 'forest (dense collection of trees)'
          • inherited *qutan (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian), 'scrubland'
            • inherited *quCaN (Proto-Austronesian), 'scrubland'
    • influence orang (Malay), 'person; people'
      • inherited *uraŋ (Proto-Malayic), 'human being; people; person'
        • inherited *uʀaŋ (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian)

Ancestors

• orangutan (English)
• orang utan (Malay)

Descendants and derived words

• orangután (Galician)

Updated July 2026

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