The story
- Afrikaans · calque ofnagapie
- English todaynight-ape
From night + ape. South African usage likely a calque of Afrikaans nagapie (literally “little night-ape, night-monkey”). Compare Afrikaans nagaap (“loris”, literally “night-ape”).
Words from the same roots
Afrikaansnagapie all →
nagapie
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.