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# orangutan

noun (an orangutan, orangutans)

«orangutan» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. An orangutan is a large, intelligent ape with long reddish-orange hair and very long arms, which lives in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra in South-East Asia. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orangutan/#m1)
2. Orangutans spend most of their lives in trees and are the largest tree-living animals. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orangutan/#m2)

### In the lessons

In science and geography lessons orangutans come up in rainforest habitats and conservation: forests are being cut down for farms, including palm oil plantations, so orangutans are critically endangered. Their name comes from Malay words meaning «person of the forest». They make a new nest of leaves to sleep in every night and use leaves as umbrellas.

### Examples

- The orangutan swung slowly from branch to branch. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orangutan/#x1)
- Orangutans live only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orangutan/#x2)
- Their name means «person of the forest». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orangutan/#x3)
- A baby orangutan stays with its mother for years. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orangutan/#x4)
- Orangutans build a fresh leafy nest each night. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orangutan/#x5)
- Cutting down the rainforest puts orangutans in danger. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orangutan/#x6)
- The orangutan held a big leaf over its head like an umbrella. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orangutan/#x7)

### Note

Plural «orangutans»; «an orangutan». Also spelt «orang-utan». Spelling trap: it ends in «-tan», not «-tang», though some people say «orang-utang». It is an ape, not a monkey.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «orangutan» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orangutan/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«orangutan» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/orangutan.html) on Mova free.