hominid

noun

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hom·i·nid | \ ˈhä-mə-nəd

, -ˌnid \

plural hominids

Definition of hominid

(Entry 1 of 2)

: any of a family (Hominidae) of erect bipedal primate mammals that includes recent humans together with extinct ancestral and related forms and in some recent classifications the great apes (the orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzee, and bonobo)

hominid

adjective

Definition of hominid (Entry 2 of 2)

: of, relating to, or being a member of a family (Hominidae) of erect, bipedal, primate mammals that includes recent humans together with extinct ancestral and related forms and in some recent classifications the gorilla, chimpanzee, and orangutan The discovery of a 3.5-million-year-old hominid skull and other fossil remains in northern Kenya is shaking the human family tree at its very roots.— Michael Balter

Examples of hominid in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun War is the worst evil that people have inflicted upon one another, at costs to themselves, since some hominid discovered the lethal efficacy of rocks. — Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2022 But the lure of the fossil beds remained strong, and his discovery of the lower jaw from the genus Australopithecus, an early hominid, brought him back into the field. — Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2022 An international team of scientists from New York University, the University of the Witwatersrand and 15 other institutions studied lower back bones found in 2015 that belonged to a female Australopithecus sediba, a type of ancient hominid. — Hannah Ryan, CNN, 23 Nov. 2021 For example, the initial discovery of a new fossil hominid usually elicits some different interpretations and expressions of uncertainty in the scientific community. — Sean B. Carroll, Scientific American, 8 Nov. 2020 One thing that still mystifies Raia and Diniz-Filho is how these hominids, with tiny, chimp-sized brains, thrived for so long on the islands. — Fox News, 4 Nov. 2019 During much of the human journey from just another primate to world-conquering hominid, our four-legged pals have been right by our side. — Popular Science, 10 Feb. 2020 Some 400,000 years ago, ancient hominids living in what is now Israel hunted down their meals and brought the remains back to a site known as Qesem Cave. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, 11 Oct. 2019 According to a press release, DNA has been key in helping scientists map out the messy relationships between primates and hominids that lived within the past 50,000 years. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 14 Nov. 2019 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hominid.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries Near hominid

homing pigeon

hominid

hominin

Statistics for hominid

Cite this Entry

“Hominid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hominid. Accessed 23 May. 2022.

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More Definitions for hominid

hominid

noun

hom·i·nid | \ ˈhäm-ə-nəd, -ˌnid

Medical Definition of hominid

: any of a family (Hominidae) of erect, bipedal, primate mammals that includes recent humans together with extinct ancestral and related forms and in some recent classifications the gorilla, chimpanzee, and organgutan