noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK:/bəˈnəʊ̯ˌbəʊ̯/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:/bəˈnoʊ̯ˌboʊ̯/
UK, US:/ˈbɒ.nəˌboʊ̯/
CMU ARPABET:B AA0 N AA1 B OW0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:B AA1 N AH0 B AH0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A great ape, Pan paniscus, from Africa south of the Congo river.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
small chimpanzee of swamp forests in Zaire; a threatened species
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: pygmy chimpanzee, Pan paniscus
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: chimpanzee, chimp, Pan troglodytes
History
Etymology
From Bolobo, a village on the Congo River where Europeans first made contact with the species. Bolobo is possibly imitative of the bubbling of the rapids at that section of the Congo.
Across languages
Translations
34 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Assamese:
বন’ব’
(bonöbö)
— pygmy chimpanzee
Asturian:
bonobu
— pygmy chimpanzee
Chinese Mandarin:
倭黑猩猩
(wōhēixīngxīng)
— pygmy chimpanzee
Chinese Mandarin:
倭猩猩
(wōxīngxīng)
— pygmy chimpanzee
