rhesus monkey

noun

rhe·​sus monkey ˈrē-səs- How to pronounce rhesus monkey (audio)
: a pale brown Asian macaque (Macaca mulatta) often used in medical research

called also rhesus, rhesus macaque

Examples of rhesus monkey in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Researchers in China have successfully cloned the first rhesus monkey, a species widely used in medical research because of its physiological similarity to humans. Sorcha Bradley, The Week Uk, theweek, 23 Jan. 2024 Amit Dave / Reuters To protect public areas from rhesus monkeys, which are a nuisance and often attack people, officials have put up life-size cutouts of langurs, a bigger primate that the rhesus monkeys find intimidating. Mithil Aggarwal, NBC News, 8 Sep. 2023 Military personnel started comparing the adjuvant combinations on rhesus monkeys at an Army facility in Thailand and ran clinical trials that tested the most promising pairs in humans and devised dosing strategies. Anna Maria Barry-Jester, ProPublica, 4 Oct. 2023 For example, in one study of 401 rhesus monkey pregnancies, only three mothers died in childbirth. Jared Diamond, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019 Life-size cutouts of langur monkeys have been scattered among the half a million decorative plants placed across the city with the aim of scaring away their archenemy, rhesus monkeys that plague parts of the city. Karishma Mehrotra, Washington Post, 8 Sep. 2023 While flowers and art are being put front and center, two of the most common sights in New Delhi — rhesus monkeys and stray dogs — are being kept out of sight as much as possible. Mithil Aggarwal, NBC News, 8 Sep. 2023 Much of his basic research involved rhesus monkeys, whose neural systems closely resemble those of humans. Clay Risen, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2023 More recent excavations of Bo’s tomb yielded golden eagles, sika deer and rhesus monkeys. Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rhesus monkey.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

New Latin Rhesus, genus of monkeys, from Latin, a mythical king of Thrace, from Greek Rhēsos

First Known Use

1829, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of rhesus monkey was in 1829

Dictionary Entries Near rhesus monkey

Cite this Entry

“Rhesus monkey.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rhesus%20monkey. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

rhesus monkey

noun
rhe·​sus monkey ˌrē-səs- How to pronounce rhesus monkey (audio)
: a pale brown Asian monkey often used in medical research

Medical Definition

rhesus monkey

noun
: a pale brown Asian monkey of the genus Macaca (M. mulatta) often used in medical research

More from Merriam-Webster on rhesus monkey

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!