Definition of APE

ape

Meanings

Plural: apes

Noun

  • any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all
  • someone who copies the words or behavior of another
  • person who resembles a nonhuman primate
  • A primate of the superfamily Hominoidea, generally larger than monkeys and distinguished from them by having no tail.
  • Any such primate other than a human.
  • An uncivilized person.
  • One who apes; a foolish imitator.

Verb

  • imitate uncritically and in every aspect
    • "Her little brother apes her behavior"
  • represent in or produce a caricature of
  • To behave like an ape.
  • To imitate or mimic, particularly to imitate poorly.

Adj

  • Wild; crazy.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English ape, from Old English apa (“ape, monkey”), from Proto-West Germanic *apō, from Proto-Germanic *apô (“monkey, ape”), possibly derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“water”), compare Proto-Celtic *abū (“river”) (hence English place name Avon, Irish abha, Welsh afon), if the word originally referred to a "water sprite". Traditionally assumed to be an ancient loanword instead, ultimately probably from an unidentified non-Indo-European language of regions in Africa or Asia where monkeys are native. Cognate with Scots aip (“ape”), West Frisian aap (“ape”), Dutch aap (“monkey, ape”), Low German Ape (“ape”), German Affe (“monkey, ape”), Swedish apa (“monkey, ape”), Icelandic api (“ape”).

Scrabble Score: 5

ape is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
ape is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
ape is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 6

ape is a valid Words With Friends word