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Definition of rhesus

rhesus

/ˈriːsəs/
rhe · sus
Plural:rhesuses
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rhesus Lexical Profile

rhesus Game Scores & Validity

• noun

1

A small, brownish-yellow macaque monkey (Macaca mulatta) native to South, Central, and Southeast Asia, characterized by a pink face and rump and widely used in biological and medical research.

Example

"The discovery of the Rh blood group system resulted from early immunological studies involving the rhesus."

Synonyms
View all synonyms for rhesus

• Rhymes for rhesus

• Nearby Words

rhea
rhebok
rheostat
rhesus
rhesus macaque
rhetoric
rhetorical

Word Origin & Etymology

Coined in 1797 by the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Audebert from Latin Rhesus (from Ancient Greek Rhesos), the name of a mythical king of Thrace mentioned in Homer's Iliad; Audebert explicitly noted that he chose the name arbitrarily without symbolic significance.

Cite this Entry

Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Rhesus. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Nov 5, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/rhesus
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