plural bonobos
: a rare great ape (Pan paniscus) that has a more slender build and longer limbs than the related common chimpanzee (P. troglodytes) and that inhabits a small geographic region in equatorial Africa south of the Congo River
called also pygmy chimpanzee
Examples of bonobo in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The subject of the study was Kanzi, arguably the world's most famous bonobo — an endangered species of ape that's a smaller cousin to chimpanzees.
—
Nathan Rott, NPR, 10 Feb. 2026
The evidence for this comes from a bonobo named Kanzi, who took part in three pretend tea party-style experiments conducted by two researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
—Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 9 Feb. 2026
Enter Kanzi, a bonobo who was raised in a lab and became a whiz at communicating with humans using graphic symbols.
—Adithi Ramakrishnan, Los Angeles Times, 8 Feb. 2026
In a set of experiments, a team of researchers offered a bonobo named Kanzi invisible juice and grapes, presenting the tests as something of a game, akin to a child’s make-believe tea party.
—Evan Bush, NBC news, 5 Feb. 2026
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Nathan Rott, NPR, 10 Feb. 2026
The evidence for this comes from a bonobo named Kanzi, who took part in three pretend tea party-style experiments conducted by two researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
—Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 9 Feb. 2026
Enter Kanzi, a bonobo who was raised in a lab and became a whiz at communicating with humans using graphic symbols.
—Adithi Ramakrishnan, Los Angeles Times, 8 Feb. 2026
In a set of experiments, a team of researchers offered a bonobo named Kanzi invisible juice and grapes, presenting the tests as something of a game, akin to a child’s make-believe tea party.
—Evan Bush, NBC news, 5 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bonobo
Cite this Entry
“Bonobo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bonobo. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
bonobo
noun
bo·no·bo
bə-ˈnō-bō; ˈbä-nə-bō 
-nō-
-nō-
: a rare anthropoid ape of the genus Pan (P. paniscus) that has a more slender build and longer limbs than the related common chimpanzee (P. troglodytes)
called also pygmy chimpanzee
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