Monkey

How to spell monkey

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce monkey

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does monkey mean?

1. nounA small to medium-sized primate, typically with a long tail, found mainly in tropical regions.
2. verbTo meddle, tamper, or fool around with something in an idle or careless way.

Monkey in a sentence

• noun

  The zoo built a new enclosure for its rescued monkey.

• verb

  Please do not monkey with the thermostat settings while I am out.

• noun

  A curious monkey snatched a banana from the market stall.

• verb

  The technician warned us not to monkey around with the wiring.

Where does monkey come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The origin of monkey is genuinely uncertain, which is unusual for such an everyday word. The most widely accepted explanation traces it to a Middle Low German version of the Reynard the Fox beast fables, in which the ape character bore the name Moneke, apparently a pet form built on an older personal name. That tale circulated across northern Europe, and the name seems to have crossed into English in the 1500s as a general word for the animal, gradually replacing older terms like ape. The spelling settled with the soft -ey ending common to familiar or affectionate words. Because the link to Moneke cannot be proven beyond doubt, scholars treat it as the best guess rather than a certainty, and the spelling trap for adults is simply remembering the -ey finish rather than -y.

How the word is built

• monk- (uncertain root, possibly the proper name Moneke)
• -ey (diminutive ending)