Pithecanthropus

[pith-i-kan-thruh-puh s, -kuh n-throh-puh s] /ˌpɪθ ɪˈkæn θrə pəs, -kənˈθroʊ pəs/
noun
1.
a former genus of extinct hominids whose members have now been assigned to the proposed species Homo erectus.
Origin
< Neo-Latin (1891) < Greek píthēk(os) ape + ánthrōpos man
British Dictionary definitions for Pithecanthropus

pithecanthropus

/ˌpɪθɪkænˈθrəʊpəs; -ˈkænθrə-/
noun (pl) -pi (-ˌpaɪ)
1.
any primitive apelike man of the former genus Pithecanthropus, now included in the genus Homo See Java man, Peking man
Derived Forms
pithecanthropine, pithecanthropoid, adjective
Word Origin
C19: New Latin, from Greek pithēkos ape + anthrōpos man
Word Origin and History for Pithecanthropus

pithecanthropus

n.

genus of extinct primates, 1895, from Modern Latin, literally "monkey-man," from Greek pithekos "ape" + anthropos "man" (see anthropo-). Coined 1868 by Haeckel as a name for a hypothetical link between apes and men (attested in English in this sense from 1876); applied by Dr. Eugène Dubois (1858-1940), physician of the Dutch army in Java, to remains he found there in 1891.

Pithecanthropus in Science
pithecanthropus
  (pĭth'ĭ-kān'thrə-pəs, -kān-thrō'pəs)   
An extinct hominid postulated from bones found in Java in 1891 and originally designated Pithecanthropus erectus because it was thought to represent a species evolutionarily between apes and humans. Pithecanthropus is now classified as Homo erectus. Also called Java man. See more at Homo erectus.