Also wou-wou, wau-wau, wawou, wa-wa, wawah, wah-wah. [a. Malay wauwau, Javanese wawa (whence also Du. wouwouw, wawwaw), imitative of the animal’s cry.] The silver gibbon of Java, Hylobates leuciscus. Also applied to H. agilis.
α. 1827. Griffith, trans. Cuvier, I. 209. The Asb-coloured or Silvery Gibbon, also called the Wou Wou.
1838. Libr. Entert. Knowl., Menageries, Monkeys, etc., I. 183. The wou-wou (Hylobates Leuciscus) is covered with a very fine long fur of a woolly texture.
1885. H. O. Forbes, Wand. Eastern Archip., 70. The loud plaintive wailings of a colony of Wau-waus.
attrib. 1894. H. O. Forbes, Handbk. Primates, II. 154. The Wau-Wau Gibbon. Hylobates leuciscus.
β. 1882. De Windt, Equator, 102. Monkeys of every description, from the hideous proboscis to the pretty wa-wa.
1883. Isab. L. Bird, Golden Chersonese, 297. A little wah-wah, the most delightful of apes.
