Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BAB-OON', n. [Fr. babouin, so called from its resemblance to a babe. This name seems to have originated in the Oriental babion, papio. See Babe.]

A monkey of the largest species; a quadruped belonging to the genus Simia, in the class Mammalia, and order Primates, according to the system of Linnæus; but by Pennant arranged under the digitated quadrupeds. Baboons have short tails; a long face; a broad high muzzle; dog-like tusks, or canine teeth; and naked callosities on the buttocks. They are found only on the eastern continent. – Encyc.