Emily Dickinson Lexicon

O-RANG-OU-TANG', n. [Orang is said to be the Malay for man, that is, reasonable being, and outang is said to be the Malay of wild, that is, of the woods.]

A quadrumanous mammal, the Pythecus Satyrus, or Simia Satyrus. This animal seems to be confined to Borneo, Sumatra, and Malacca. It approaches the most nearly to man of any animal of its tribe. It is utterly incapable of walking in a perfectly erect posture. Its body is covered with coarse hair of a brownish red color. In some places on its back it is six inches long, and on its arms five inches. The hight of the adult animal is not known. A single specimen supposed to be of this species has been killed, which measured at least six feet. It eats both animal and vegetable food. The African animal resembling it, is the chimpanzee, (Simia troglodytes, or Troglodytes niger.) Cuvier.