Uncertain: * May be derived from monk + -ey (diminutive suffix), * or borrowed from Middle Low German Moneke, the name of the son of Martin the Ape in Reynard the Fox (which may represent an unattested colloquial Middle Low German *moneke, *moneken), itself of uncertain origin: ** Possibly derived from a Romance term represented by Late Middle French monne (whence Modern French mone (“monkey”)) or earlier Old French monnekin (“monkey”), originally Monnekin, the name of a monkey in Li Dis d'Entendement. Compare also Old French and Middle French monin (“monkey”). *** The French terms may have been borrowed from Italian monna (“monkey”), from Old Spanish mona (“female monkey”), itself a shortening of mamona, variant of maimón, from Arabic مَيْمُون (maymūn, “baboon”)). *** However, Old French monnekin may alternatively be unrelated to the other terms, instead being a borrowing of Early Middle Dutch mannekin (a diminutive of man, literally “little human”), and if so monkey is a doublet of mannequin; see modern Dutch manneken.
A member of the clade Simiiformes other than those in the clade Hominoidea containing apes, generally (but not universally) distinguished by small size, tails, and cheek pouches.
He had been visiting an area zoo when a monkey swung from its tree perch, swiped his glasses and hurled them into a hippo hole.
They thought of, I don’t know, monkeys and caipirinhas and samba.”2007 September 20, Eric Wilson, “Blame It on Rio and Gisele”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 18 Sep 2020:
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Following monkeys, apes, and other creatures in their habitats, these scientists turned their notes and observations into voluminous, quantitative data. […] Other examples of nonhuman self-domestication in the wild exist—for instance, the Zanzibar red colobus monkey diverged from the mainland African red colobus in similar ways during its island isolation—but bonobos are the closest and most relevant to us.2019 January 29, Melvin Konner, “A Bold New Theory Proposes That Humans Tamed Themselves”, in The Atlantic, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 Jul 2019:
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Any simian, including humans.
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Broadly, Proscribed, Sometimes Any simian primate other than hominids; any monkey or ape.
Chimpanzees are known to form bands to hunt and kill other monkeys.
"Yes. He gets to Paris at seven in the morning. He promised to telephone the first thing." "You expensive little monkey!" "Why?" "It's ten shillings for three minutes, or something like that, and you have to go to the G.P.O. or the Mansion House or some such place, I believe."1909, Algernon Blackwood, You May Telephone From Here:
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Figuratively, Slang The person in the motorcycle sidecar in sidecar racing.
Generally derogatory; highly derogatory; highly derogatory
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.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:
Historical A small trading vessel of the sixteenth century.
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Nautical, TransportSlang The vessel in which a mess receives its full allowance of grog.
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The weight of a pile driver or drop hammer.
Someone handed me a monkey of grog. I forced myself to sip it, not down it.2007, Broos Campbell, No Quarter, page 111:
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A fluid consisting of hydrochloric acid and zinc, used in the process of soldering.
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Slang Synonym of five hundred, especially (UK) 500 pounds sterling or (US, dated) 500 dollars.
[I] gave her a monkey — just half my last thou — and started to earn some more.1918, Aleister Crowley, Robbing Miss Horniman:
A thousandth of a million squid or two monkeys Or a whole fifty scores2004, The Streets, “It Was Supposed to Be So Easy”, in A Grand Don’t Come for Free:
Slang A person's temper, said to be "up" when they are angry.
I was out rather late one night, when the foreman of my department, who owed me a grudge, abused me like a dog, and told me I might consider myself dismissed, and that I should be paid my wages in the morning. I don't know how I kept my hands off him, for my monkey was up; […]1864, Eneas Sweetland Dallas, Once a Week, volume 11, page 267:
Reminded me of running up that hill by the Marne – or was it the Morin? – in 1914 when Kearey had got his face ripped open by a bullet and Hedley had got his monkey up [Lost his temper, Ed.] over the Huns killing 8 of my platoon.2019, John Hughes-Wilson, 1918 - Defeat into Victory: A Tommy Gunn Adventure, page 98:
Monkey: a habit, as in "I have a monkey on my back." Usually used when one is sick from lack of drugs.1938, Alfred R. Lindesmith, "Argot of the Underworld Drug Addict", Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 29, Issue 2 (July-August)
"Man, I wasn't hooked, I was crucified. The monkey got so big he was carryin' me. […] When I hear a junkie tell me he wants to kick the habit but he just can't I know he lies even if he don't know he does. He wants to carry the monkey, he's punishin' hisself for somethin' 'n don't even know it. […] Then I got forty grains 'n went up to the room 'n went from monkey to nothin' in twenny-eight days 'n that's nine-ten years ago 'n the monkey's dead." "The monkey's never dead, Fixer," Frankie told him knowingly.1949, Nelson Algren, The Man with The Golden Arm:
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I thought I would like to learn about the dope scene anyway, and the boy must have some character, you know, if he got the monkey off his back (as they used to say in our time) without outside help.1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 431:
Everybody's got something to hide except for me and my monkey.
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Dance, Dancing, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A dance popularized by Major Lance in 1963, now usually only its upper-body dance move involving exaggerated drumming motions.
Do the Monkey, yeah, Do the Monkey, yeah, Ah, twist them hips, Let your backbone slip, Now move your feet, Get on the beat...1963, Curtis Mayfield, "The Monkey Time" (video)
C'mon everybody! C'mon in! Bobby's goin' to show you how to do the swim. Kinda like the monkey, kinda like the twist Pretend you're in the water and you go like this.1964, “C'mon and Swim”, Thomas Coman and Sylvester Stewart (Sly Stone) (lyrics), performed by Bobby Freeman:
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Do the monkey, do the pony / Do the slop, do the boogaloo twist.1971, “Suicide Song”, in Loudon Wainwright III (lyrics), Album II, performed by Loudon Wainwright III:
...Used to the do the monkey But now it's not cool...1989, Gary Holt, The Toxic Waltz:
Uncertain: * May be derived from monk + -ey (diminutive suffix), * or borrowed from Middle Low German Moneke, the name of the son of Martin the Ape in Reynard the Fox (which may represent an unattested colloquial Middle Low German *moneke, *moneken), itself of uncertain origin: ** Possibly derived from a Romance term represented by Late Middle French monne (whence Modern French mone (“monkey”)) or earlier Old French monnekin (“monkey”), originally Monnekin, the name of a monkey in Li Dis d'Entendement. Compare also Old French and Middle French monin (“monkey”). *** The French terms may have been borrowed from Italian monna (“monkey”), from Old Spanish mona (“female monkey”), itself a shortening of mamona, variant of maimón, from Arabic مَيْمُون (maymūn, “baboon”)). *** However, Old French monnekin may alternatively be unrelated to the other terms, instead being a borrowing of Early Middle Dutch mannekin (a diminutive of man, literally “little human”), and if so monkey is a doublet of mannequin; see modern Dutch manneken.
Please don't monkey with the controls if you don't know what you're doing.
“As an inventor,” Bob Mason suggested, “you're a howling success at shooting craps! […] Why monkey with weak imitations when you can come close to the original?”1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter XII, in The Understanding Heart:
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To mimic; to ape.
He winked at Liza, who monkeyed him, holding her own eye shut.2011, Elizabeth Mosier, The Playgroup, page 83: