tarzan
n. countablen. a person who is very strong, athletic, and comfortable in nature or the outdoors. It comes from a famous story about a man raised by apes in the jungle.
n. a person of great physical strength and agility who is at home in a wilderness environment. The lowercase form typically describes a man who displays primitive or ruggedly athletic qualities.
He climbed that tree like a Tarzan to rescue the cat.
The kids were playing Tarzan in the backyard, swinging from the low branches of the old oak tree.
While the character originated in pulp fiction, the name has become a cultural shorthand for any individual who rejects urban sophistication in favor of raw physical prowess and a connection to the wild.
Coined by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912. A name created by Burroughs for his fiction. In the fictional ape language of the books, "tarzan" means "white-skin"; possibly echoic in its phonetics of various "exotic" names (see Orientalism).
Often used metaphorically or as a nickname; when used as a common noun, it is frequently preceded by 'a' or 'real'.