grivet

noun

griv·​et ˈgri-vət 

plural grivets

: a long-tailed monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops) of northeastern Africa related to the green monkey that has a greenish tinge to its hair and a black face with long white tufts of hair on the sides and is sometimes used in medical research

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, of uncertain origin

Note: The word was apparently introduced by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Frédéric Cuvier in Histoire naturelle des mammifères, tome premier (Paris, 1824), plate 9 and accompanying text (dated "juin 1819"). The plate and description of Chlorocebus aethiops were based on observation of tame monkeys brought to France by overseas travelers; the authors assume that the monkey is native to somewhere in Africa. Cuvier, to whom the description is conventionally credited, states that "the name that I have given the animal is that which it had received from its master, and to which it responds" ("Le nom que j'ai donné à cet animal est celui qu'il avait reçu de son maître, et auquel il répondait"). The base word grive in French is given to several thrushes of the genus Turdus; it is also an argot word meaning "war" or "armed force." The derivative grivet is reported to mean "infantryman" in argot, though it is dated no earlier than 1861 (see Trésor de la langue française, G. Esnault, Dictionnaire historique des argots français.)

First Known Use

1828, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for grivet

• civet
• pivot
• privet
• rivet

Medical Definition

grivet

noun

griv·​et ˈgriv-ət 

grə-ˈvā

: a long-tailed monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops) of northeastern Africa related to the green monkey that has a greenish tinge to its hair and a black face with long white tufts of hair on the sides and is sometimes used in medical research