long-armed ape of the East Indies, 1770, from French gibbon (18c.), supposedly from a word in the French colonies of India but not found in any language there. Brought to Europe by Marquis Joseph-François Dupleix (1697-1763), French governor general in India 1742-54. The surname is Old French Giboin, from Frankish *Geba-win "gift-friend," or in some cases a diminutive of Gibb, itself a familiar form of Gilbert.
