Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Relating to, characteristic of, or resembling a monkey or an ape.
  • adjective Relating to, characteristic of, or resembling a monkey or a nonhuman ape.
  • noun A monkey or an ape.
  • noun A monkey or a nonhuman ape.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Like an ape or monkey, in any sense; apish; rhesian; simious: as, simian characters, habits, traits, tricks, antics, etc.
  • Technically, of or pertaining to the Simiidæ or Simiinæ; anthropoid or manlike, as one of the higher apes: as, simian ancestors.
  • noun An ape or monkey of any kind.
  • noun An anthropoid ape of the family Simiidæ.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the family Simiadæ, which, in its widest sense, includes all the Old World apes and monkeys; also, apelike.

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

  • adjective Of or pertaining to apes; apely.
  • adjective Bearing resemblance to an ape.
  • noun A monkey or an ape, especially an anthropoid.

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

  • adjective relating to or resembling an ape
  • noun an ape or monkey

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin sīmia, ape, probably from sīmus, snub-nosed, from Greek sīmos.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin sīmia ("ape, monkey"), from Ancient Greek σιμός (simos, "bent upward").

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Examples

  • Now, Bieniasz and Hatziioannou, working with Vineet KewalRamani and Jeffrey Lifson at the National Cancer Institute in Maryland, have developed a strain they call simian-tropic HIV-1

    Health News from Medical News Today 2009

  • Its got a commercial edge that is quite clever and sales should not be a worry, to people that like the name simian mobile disco and c collona attached to things.

    No Kisses, No Sweat (Music (For Robots)) 2006

  • So precious to a simian is the privilege of making sounds with his tongue, that when he wishes to punish severely those men he calls criminals, he forbids them to chatter, and forces them by threats to be silent.

    This Simian World Clarence Day 1904

  • So precious to a simian is the privilege of making sounds with his tongue, that when he wishes to punish severely those men he calls criminals, he forbids them to chatter, and forces them by threats to be silent.

    This Simian World Clarence Day 1904

  • The _sulcus occipitalis transversus_, which is generally lightly stamped in man, extends here as a deep fissure across over the occipital lobe, thus producing a so-called simian fissure, and the posterior part of the occipital lobe has the appearance of an operculum.

    The Mind of the Child, Part II The Development of the Intellect, International Education Series Edited By William T. Harris, Volume IX. William T. Preyer 1869

  • VIRxSYS of Gaithersburg, Maryland, is resurrecting the controversial approach, thanks to successful tests of a similar vaccine against SIV - also known as simian HIV - in monkeys.

    New Scientist - Online News 2010

  • The monkey version of the virus that causes AIDS is called simian immunodeficiency virus

    lsj.com - News 2009

  • The monkey version of the virus that causes AIDS is called simian immunodeficiency virus

    Canadian Online Health News Seth Borenstein, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 2009

  • The monkey version of the virus that causes AIDS is called simian immunodeficiency virus

    Breaking News: CBS News 2009

  • The strain of HIV -- called simian-tropic HIV-1, or stHIV-1 -- was developed by altering a single gene in the human version of the virus to allow it to infect a pig-tailed macaque, according to researchers.

    THE MEDICAL NEWS 2009

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