An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Pavian

by Friedrich Kluge

Pavian, m., ‘baboon,’ ModHG. only, formed from Du. baviaan (HG. p for Du. b, as in pappeln); the latter, like E. baboon, is derived from Fr. babouin, ‘baboon’ (Ital. babbuino, MidLat. babuinus). The derivation of these cognates from MidLat. papio, ‘wild dog,’ is not satisfactory; their origin must be sought for somewhere in the South. Late in the 13th cent. the term passed into Rom. and then into E.; in Germany the animal seems to have been shown for the first time at the Imperial Diet at Augsburg in the year 1552 A.D.