hominid

noun hom·i·nid \ ˈhä-mə-nəd , -ˌnid \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

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 orangutan

—

hominid

adjective

See hominid defined for kids

Recent Examples of hominid from the Web

Neanderthals and early hominids were more sophisticated than their reputation suggests.

— david grossman, Popular Mechanics, "This Could Be Neanderthal Art," 3 May 2018
In addition, Smith’s analysis looked at the size distribution of African mammals prior to the hominid migration into Eurasia.

— jason g. goldman, Scientific American, "In 200 Years Cows May Be the Biggest Land Mammals on the Planet," 20 Apr. 2018
That link only appeared once hominids began to live alongside large mammals.

— jason g. goldman, Scientific American, "In 200 Years Cows May Be the Biggest Land Mammals on the Planet," 20 Apr. 2018
These kinds of tools have been found in Europe, where they were made by Neanderthals and other early hominids.

— sophie weiner, Popular Mechanics, "New Discovery of Ancient Tools Complicates Our Story of Human Evolution," 2 Feb. 2018
What's certain is that some kind of hominid with sophisticated tool-making abilities lived in India at that time.

— sophie weiner, Popular Mechanics, "New Discovery of Ancient Tools Complicates Our Story of Human Evolution," 2 Feb. 2018
As Gina Kolta reports for The New York Times, a new study documents a method to extract and sequence fragments of hominid DNA from samples of cave dirt.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Scientists Extract DNA From Ancient Humans Out of Cave Dirt," 28 Apr. 2017
So are these elephants and hominids still separate species?

— ben panko, Smithsonian, "What Does It Mean to Be a Species? Genetics Is Changing the Answer," 19 May 2017
The highlight, naturally, is Lucy — the Australopithecine hominid that made an enormous splash when her partial skeleton was discovered in eastern Ethiopia in 1974 by Donald Johanson and Tom Gray.

— lucas peterson, New York Times, "Navigating Sometimes Chaotic, Always Fascinating Addis Ababa," 17 Oct. 2017

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.

Origin and Etymology of hominid

New Latin Hominidae, from Homin-, Homo + -idae

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1889

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

Other Mammals Terms

dormouse, dugong, gibbon, grimalkin, sable, stoat, ungulate, vole

Medical Dictionary

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

—