類るい人じん猿えん

る

い

じ

ん

え

ん

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun

ape; anthropoid ape

Refers to tailless primates such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. In biological contexts, it corresponds to the superfamily Hominoidea.

チンパンジーやゴリラは類るい人じん猿えんに分ぶん類るいさ

れる

。

Chimpanzees and gorillas are classified as apes.

類るい人じん猿えんはヒトに最もっとも近ちかい動どう物ぶつの一ひとつだ。

Apes are among the animals closest to humans.

Kanji

類sort, kind, variety
人person
猿monkey

Related words

猿さるN3
猿 is the broad, everyday word for monkeys and apes in general, while 類人猿 is the precise term for tailless apes like gorillas and chimpanzees.
霊れい長ちょう類るい
霊長類 is the scientific order Primates covering monkeys, apes, and prosimians, whereas 類人猿 refers only to the tailless apes within that group.

Don't confuse with

猿えん人じん
猿人 refers to extinct early hominins (ape-men) studied in paleoanthropology, while 類人猿 refers to living tailless apes; the similar kanji and sound make them easy to mix up.

Counted with

匹ひきN3
counter for small animals · counter for rolls of cloth · archaic counter for horses · roll of cloth

Word family

化か石せき類るい人じん猿えん
anthropoid fossil; fossil anthropoid
大おお型がた類るい人じん猿えん
great ape
小こ型がた類るい人じん猿えん
lesser ape

Etymology

Compound of 類 (kind, type), 人 (human), and 猿 (monkey/ape), literally 'human-like ape'. The term was coined in Japanese as a calque of Western scientific terminology.