'apemantus' originates in Early Modern English as the personal name used by William Shakespeare in his play Timon of Athens (c.1606–1607); the name was created (or adapted) as a label for a misanthropic character and later extended to mean a misanthropic person in general.

'apemantus' was first recorded as a character name in Shakespeare's play and, through literary usage, evolved from a proper name into a common noun referring to a misanthropic or cynical person.

Initially it was primarily a proper name for a character in a play; over time it came to be used generically to mean 'a misanthropic person' or 'cynic'.