AYE-AYE Definition & Meaning

aye-aye

[ahy-ahy]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

an endangered species of omnivorous lemur, Daubentonia madagascariensis, the world’s largest nocturnal primate, having rodentlike incisors and long fingers: its extremely rare foraging technique involves gnawing small holes in trees and extracting grubs with its distinctly thin middle finger.

aye-aye

/ ˈ��ɪˌ��ɪ /

a rare nocturnal arboreal prosimian primate of Madagascar, Daubentonia madagascariensis , related to the lemurs: family Daubentoniidae. It has long bony fingers and rodent-like incisor teeth adapted for feeding on insect larvae and bamboo pith

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Origin of aye-aye¹

First recorded in 1775–85; from French, from Malagasy aiay, probably imitative of its cry

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Origin of aye-aye¹

C18: from French, from Malagasy aiay, probably of imitative origin

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The aye-aye is endangered, its habitat fragmented and individuals, though rarely seen, sometimes killed because they are seen as bad luck.

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An aye-aye—a type of lemur—was spotted on camera “digging for gold.”

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But if there’s a champion nose-picker, it’s got to be the aye-aye.

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It wasn't just any lemur; an aye-aye was filmed by Prof Anne-Claire Fabre from the University of Bern burying its elongated finger in its nostril.

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Certain primates like the aye-aye lemur have an extra thumb-like digit as well.

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