Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Having opposable first digits on both the feet and the hands, used for gripping and climbing. Many primates are quadrumanous.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Four-handed; having all four feet fitted for use as hands: said of mammals, as opossums, etc.; specifically, of or pertaining to the Quadrumana. Also
quadrimanous .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective (Zoöl.) Having four hands; of or pertaining to the Quadrumana.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Having four
feet whose firstdigits areopposable ; applies to all non-humanprimates .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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I.G. St. Hilaire is clearly in error in ascribing the invention of the term "quadrumanous" to Buffon, though "himanous" may belong to him.
Lectures and Essays Thomas Henry Huxley 1860
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I.G. St. Hilaire is clearly in error in ascribing the invention of the term "quadrumanous" to
On the Relations of Man to the Lower Animals Thomas Henry Huxley 1860
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The only quadrumanous animal in the group is the curious baboon-monkey, Cynopithecus nigrescens, already described as being one of the characteristic animals of Celebes.
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It must be borne in mind that the quadrumanous indications are found in the lower classes of the most developed races.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 392, July 7, 1883 Various
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The strongly convex upper lip frequently seen among the lower classes of the Irish is a modified quadrumanous character.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 392, July 7, 1883 Various
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Many persons possess at least one quadrumanous or embryonic character.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 392, July 7, 1883 Various
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The next suggests a closer association of our ancestors of the olden time with "our poor relations" of the quadrumanous family than we like to acknowledge.
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I first consider those which are used in the tables of embryonic, quadrumanous, and race characters:
Scientific American Supplement, No. 392, July 7, 1883 Various
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Indo-European, we can readily observe that it is in the two first named that there is a predominance of the quadrumanous features which are retarded in man; and that the embryonic characters which predominate are those in which man is accelerated.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 392, July 7, 1883 Various
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In dealing with the suggestion that man differs from the apes in being bimanous, while the apes are quadrumanous, Huxley first explained and discussed what the exact differences between hands and feet are.
reesetee commented on the word quadrumanous
With four feet that can also be used as hands, each having an opposable first digit. Most primates, apart from human beings, are quadrumanous.
March 12, 2009
hernesheir commented on the word quadrumanous
quadrumanal
December 21, 2010