Caliban

American  

[kal-uh-ban] / ˈkæl əˌbæn /

noun

1. a character in Shakespeare's The Tempest, described as the half-human native inhabitant of the island, who is enslaved by the character Prospero.

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Caliban British  

/ ˈkælɪˌbæn /

noun

1. a brutish or brutalized man

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Etymology

Origin of Caliban

First recorded in 1610–15; probably a variant of cannibal ( def. ) or Carib ( def. )

Example Sentences

“The isle is full of noises,” sings Caliban, and on Tuesday night it certainly was.

From New York Times • Aug. 31, 2023

Jack Chadwick chanced upon an old copy of Jack Hilton's semi-autobiographical Caliban Shrieks in 2021.

From BBC • Jul. 7, 2023

The tension between Mescal’s Stanley and Ferran’s Blanche brews in a cocktail of incompatible spirits: Mescal’s earthbound Caliban, if you will, to Ferran’s flighty Ariel.

From Washington Post • Apr. 18, 2023

Indeed, this “savage,” as Shakespeare took pains to note in his complicated depiction of Caliban, is a good deal more civilized than the drunken riffraff with whom he falls into cahoots.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2023

I looked across the classroom at Sycorax and Caliban.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt