Definitions

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

  • noun A small monkey (Miopithecus talapoin) of western equatorial Africa, having a long tail and greenish fur.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A Buddhist monk of Ceylon, Siam, etc.
  • noun In zoology, a monkey, Cercopithecus talapoin.

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

  • noun (Zoöl.) A small African monkey (Cercopithecus talapoin or Miopithecus talapoin) -- called also melarhine.
  • noun Ceylon & Indo-China A Buddhist monk or priest.

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

  • noun A monkey from one of two species of Old World monkeys, of the genus Miopithecus, distinguished by a short-snouted head with a hairless face

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

  • noun smallest guenon monkey; of swampy central and west African forests

Etymologies

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

[French, from Portuguese talapões, pl. of talapão, monk.]

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Examples

  • The mangrove forests are also home to the talapoin monkey (Miopithecus talapoin).

    Central African mangroves 2007

  • The Turkish dervish, the Persian brahmin, the Chinese bonze, and the Indian talapoin, all worship the Deity in a different manner; but they enjoy a tranquillity of soul amidst the darkness in which they are plunged; and he who would endeavor to enlighten them, does them but ill service.

    Candide 2007

  • A curate — but why do I say a curate? — even an imam, a talapoin, or brahmin ought to have the means of living decently.

    A Philosophical Dictionary 2007

  • Western Africa; the white-throated monkey from India; the bearded monkey, with a republican air about him; and the monkey who appears to have had his ears pulled, but is in reality known to scientific men as the red-eared monkey; both from Fernando Po: the Risley of monkeys, called the vaulting monkey, with his white nose; and the talapoin, from Western Africa; the gaudy macaque, known as the brilliant from

    How to See the British Museum in Four Visits W. Blanchard Jerrold 1855

  • A few days afterwards, he is again carried through the streets, on a thing like a horse litter, called _serion_, mounted on the shoulders of ten or twelve men, and dressed in the habit of a talapoin, preceded by drums and instruments of music, and accompanied by many talapoins and all his friends.

    A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 07 Robert Kerr 1784

  • Before taking their orders, the talapoins go to school till, twenty years old or more, and then go before a head talapoin appointed for the purpose, called a _rowli_, who is the most learned of the order, who examines them many times, whether they will leave their friends, foregoing the company of women, and assume the habit of a talapoin.

    A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 07 Robert Kerr 1784

  • Every individual talapoin has his own house, which is very small, set upon six or eight posts, and to which they have to go up by a ladder of twelve or fourteen staves.

    A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 07 Robert Kerr 1784

  • While sick, a talapoin or two sit every night by the sick person, continually singing, to please the devil, that he may not hurt them.

    A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 07 Robert Kerr 1784

  • For example, Angolan colobus (Colobus angolensis), Wolf's guenon (Cercopithecus wolfi), bonobo (Pan paniscus, EN), golden-bellied mangabey (Cercocebus galeritus chrysogaster), black mangabey (Lophocebus atterimus aterrimus), southern talapoin (Miopithecus talapoin) and dryad guenon (Cercopithecus dryas) occur only on the left bank of the Congo.

    Eastern Congolian swamp forests 2007

  • I obeyed the in - ftruftions given me, and in a moment found myfeljQ not at my cave, but in the ftreets of the capital city of Pulo-fang, dreft in thjc habit of a talapoin.

    The Siamese Tales: Being a Collection of Stories Told to the Son of the ... George Brewer , Champante and Whitrow , Thomas Cook, Vernor and Hood, Richard Corbould 1796

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