orang-outan (French)
Where does "orang-outan" come from?
The French word 'orang-outan' traces its roots back to the Malay phrase 'orang utan,' which literally translates to 'person of the forest.' This term made its way into English as 'orangutan' before being adopted into French to describe the distinctive, arboreal great ape.
Full etymology tree
- orang-outan (French), 'orangutan (arboreal anthropoid ape)'
- 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.'
- borrowed orang-oetan (Dutch), 'orangutan'
- derived orang utan (Malay), 'orangutan (arboreal anthropoid ape).'
- compound orang (Malay), 'person; people'
- compound hutan (Malay), 'forest (dense collection of trees)'
- inherited uraṅutan (Old Javanese), 'alternative spelling of wuraṅutan'
- derived orang utan (Malay), 'orangutan (arboreal anthropoid ape).'
- borrowed orang-oetan (Dutch), '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.'
Descendants and derived words
- urangutan (Romanian)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris