Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A heroic fictional character, raised in the jungle by apes.
  • noun by extension A strong man.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (sometimes used ironically) a man of great strength and agility (after the hero of a series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs)
  • noun a man raised by apes who was the hero of a series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

A name created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Tarzan.

Examples

  • Anyway, QUEST OF TARZAN has two major plots; the first has Tarzan going up against the white savages the Kuvuru, who steal women from everybody including the Waziri, who are the black tribe Tarzan is cool with.

    You Tarzan, Me Jane hradzka 2009

  • I think there were 19 zip lines, and for fun they had what they called a Tarzan swing.

    TravelPod.com Recent Updates 2009

  • Burroughs really sits between SF and fantasy (with a touch of proto-superhero in Tarzan), and Moorcock is its own blend of sci-fantasy.

    Quote of the Day Lou Anders 2008

  • Tarzan is much more the focal character in this book, rather than a sideline character, so that helps.

    Archive 2007-01-01 Blue Tyson 2007

  • They end up running into a lion, and cannibals, as you do, when lost in Tarzan's Africa.

    Archive 2007-03-01 Blue Tyson 2007

  • The mace has been brutalized at times: Former Conservative minister Michael Heseltine won the nickname Tarzan after swinging it round his head during a heated debate in 1976.

    Parliament Finally Sees Some Beauty 2009

  • I worked my way through Burroughs entire Mars, Venus, Earth's Core and Tarzan series, and read the 20 or so stand-alone novels that were also out (The Eternal Savage, in which Lord Greystoke has a bit part but isn't revealed as Tarzan, is still a favorite).

    Medieval Confessions and Concessions Lou Anders 2006

  • I worked my way through Burroughs entire Mars, Venus, Earth's Core and Tarzan series, and read the 20 or so stand-alone novels that were also out (The Eternal Savage, in which Lord Greystoke has a bit part but isn't revealed as Tarzan, is still a favorite).

    Archive 2006-10-01 Lou Anders 2006

  • But while Tarzan is the "feral child" legend writ large, Fu Manchu is not the "evil genius".

    Boing Boing: May 4, 2003 - May 10, 2003 Archives 2003

  • At the mention of his name Tarzan had noted the sickly pallor that overspread the features of the Hun.

    Tarzan the Untamed 1920

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.