rhesus

[ ree-suh s ]
/ ˈri səs /

noun

a macaque, Macaca mulatta, of India, used in experimental medicine.

Origin of rhesus

1830–40; < New Latin, arbitrary use of Latin Rhēsus name of a Thracian king allied with Troy < Greek Rhêsos

OTHER WORDS FROM rhesus

rhe·sian [ree-shuh n] /ˈri ʃən/, adjective

Example sentences from the Web for rhesus

British Dictionary definitions for rhesus

Rhesus
/ (ˈriːsəs) /

noun

Greek myth a king of Thrace, who arrived in the tenth year of the Trojan War to aid Troy. Odysseus and Diomedes stole his horses because an oracle had said that if these horses drank from the River Xanthus, Troy would not fall