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Where does the word "orangutan" come from? It comes from Malay orang hutan, passing through Dutch before entering English (1700s).
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Where does the word "orangutan" come from? It comes from Malay orang hutan, passing through Dutch before entering English (1700s).
Orangutan’s story begins in Malay: orang hutan meant “person of the forest.” Literally "person of the forest". By 1600s-1700s, the word had taken hold in Dutch as orang-oetan. Malay 'person of the forest', from 'orang', person, plus 'hutan', forest. It reached English by 1700s as orangutan. Today, orangutan means a large, reddish-haired great ape native to Borneo and Sumatra.
- Stage 1 · Malay · medieval orang hutan "person of the forest", literally "person of the forest".
- Stage 2 · Dutch · 1600s-1700s orang-oetan "the great ape of the forest", Malay 'person of the forest', from 'orang', person, plus 'hutan', forest.
- Stage 3 · English · 1700s orangutan "a large, reddish-haired great ape of Southeast Asia", .