A young or small gorilla, or possibly an archaic/dialectal term for a young animal or creature.
Possibly formed from 'gorilla' with a diminutive suffix -lin (similar to -ling or -let, from Old English -ing), though this is an extremely rare or archaic formation. The etymology is uncertain.
Diminutive suffixes like -lin show how languages instinctively shrink words to show smallness or cuteness—even for gorillas, where 'baby gorilla' would be clearer, '-lin' creates an instantly understandable tiny version.
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