Although most scientists believe that humans and monkeys share a common ancestor, many etymologists and lexicographers believe the word monkey shares its pedigree with a fox. Specifically, it's Reynard the Fox, an anthropomorphized canine who is the titular hero of a satirical beast epic, told mostly in verse, that was popular throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and up into the sixteenth century. In a Middle Low German version of Reynard's poem that was published circa 1500, a new character appeared: Moneke, the son of a secondary character named Martin the Ape. According to literary scholars, this new version of the poem was not initially translated into English via the printed page; rather, it was relayed to English-speaking audiences by way of itinerant entertainers such as minstrels. Thus, some etymologists posit that this is when the word monkey swung onto the scene, as they believe the sixteenth-century minstrels who performed the poem made a monkey out of Moneke when they tried to Anglicize the young ape's name.
©2021 Michael R. Gates
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