rhesus
/ˈɹiːsəs/ noun
Forms rhesuses
- noun A macaque monkey native to southern and southeastern Asia; Macaca mulatta.
- noun (medicine, attributive, also without cap.) Denotes a system for categorising human blood types based on the presence or absence of various antigens, especially Rhesus factor D.
Synonyms
Etymology
From New Latin rhēsus, arbitrary formation from Latin Rhēsus, from Ancient Greek Ῥῆσος (Rhêsos), mythical Thracian king.
So named because the first identified antigen (RhD) was originally believed to be the same as one discovered in rhesus macaques.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A monkey; the bhunder.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “rhesus”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details