The German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach classified the chimpanzee as Simia troglodytes by 1775. Another Dutch anatomist, Peter Camper, dissected specimens from Central Africa and Southeast Asia in the 1770s, noting the differences between the African and Asian apes. In 1641, the Dutch anatomist Nicolaes Tulp applied the name to a chimpanzee or bonobo brought to the Netherlands from Angola. The first great ape known to Western science in the 17th century was the ' orang-outang' (genus Pongo), the local Malay name being recorded in Java by the Dutch physician Jacobus Bontius. The genus name Pan derives from the Greek god, while the specific name troglodytes was taken from the Troglodytae, a mythical race of cave-dwellers. The colloquialism 'chimp' was most likely coined some time in the late 1870s. It is derived from Vili ci-mpenze or Tshiluba language chimpenze, with a meaning of ' ape'.

The English word chimpanzee is first recorded in 1738. Many attempts have been made to teach languages such as American Sign Language to chimpanzees, with limited success. Some hundreds have been kept in laboratories for research, especially in the United States. Although many chimpanzees have been kept as pets, their strength, aggressiveness, and unpredictability makes them dangerous in this role. Chimpanzees appear in Western popular culture as stereotyped clown-figures and have featured in entertainments such as chimpanzees' tea parties, circus acts and stage shows. The biggest threats to the chimpanzee are habitat loss, poaching, and disease. Between 170,000 and 300,000 individuals are estimated across its range. The chimpanzee is listed on the IUCN Red List as an endangered species. The infant is weaned at about three years old but usually maintains a close relationship with its mother for several years more. The species has also been found creating sharpened sticks to spear small mammals. Nearly all chimpanzee populations have been recorded using tools, modifying sticks, rocks, grass and leaves and using them for hunting and acquiring honey, termites, ants, nuts and water. The species lives in a strict male-dominated hierarchy, where disputes are generally settled without the need for violence. The chimpanzee lives in groups that range in size from 15 to 150 members, although individuals travel and forage in much smaller groups during the day. It is larger and more robust than the bonobo, weighing 40–70 kg (88–154 lb) for males and 27–50 kg (60–110 lb) for females and standing 150 cm (4 ft 11 in). The chimpanzee is covered in coarse black hair, but has a bare face, fingers, toes, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet. Evidence from fossils and DNA sequencing shows that Pan is a sister taxon to the human lineage and is humans' closest living relative. The chimpanzee and the bonobo are the only species in the genus Pan. When its close relative the bonobo was more commonly known as the pygmy chimpanzee, this species was often called the common chimpanzee or the robust chimpanzee. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. The chimpanzee ( / tʃ ɪ m p æ n ˈ z i/ Pan troglodytes), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. Anthropopithecus troglodytes ( Sutton, 1883).Troglodytes troglodytes (Blumenbach, 1776).

Smiling chimpanzee drawing