Standard Lemma guide

Tarzan

name · noun · verb · 5 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

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  • General-American: /ˈtɑɹzæn/
  • CMU ARPABET: T AA1 R Z AE2 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: T AA1 R Z AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A heroic fictional character, raised from a baby to adulthood in the African jungle by apes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: fiction, literature, media, publishing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A strong wild man; any man showing attributes of Tarzan, as muscularity, agility, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To behave in the manner of Tarzan, especially by swinging from ropes, climbing trees, and other feats of athleticism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a man raised by apes who was the hero of a series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Tarzan of the Apes

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fictional character, fictitious character, character

5

noun

Meaning 5

(sometimes used ironically) a man of great strength and agility (after the hero of a series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: man, adult male

History

Etymology

Coined by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912. A name created by Burroughs for his fiction. In the fictional ape language of the books, "tarzan" means "white-skin"; possibly echoic in its phonetics of various "exotic" names (see Orientalism).

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: طَرَزَان (ṭarazān) — fictional character
  • Bulgarian: Тарза́н (Tarzán) — fictional character
  • Dutch: Tarzan — fictional character
  • French: Tarzan — fictional character
  • Galician: Tarzán — fictional character
  • Greek: Ταρζάν (Tarzán) — fictional character
  • Hebrew: טרזן — fictional character
  • Hittite: 𒋻𒍝𒀭 (tar-za-an) — fictional character
  • Macedonian: Тарзан — fictional character
  • Marathi: टार्जन (ṭārjan) — fictional character
  • Polish: Tarzan — fictional character
  • Portuguese: Tarzan — fictional character
  • Romanian: Tarzan — fictional character
  • Russian: Тарза́н (Tarzán) — fictional character
  • Spanish: Tarzán — fictional character
  • Swedish: Tarzan — fictional character