Caliban

[kal-uh-ban]

noun

the ugly, beastlike slave of Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for caliban

Contemporary Examples of caliban

Clegg first introduces himself to Miranda as Ferdinand, but she later dubs him Caliban.
How to Understand the Criminal Mind By Reading This Novel
Casey N. Cep
December 6, 2013
And cruder devices certainly deepen the effect of a name; Caliban is a rough anagram of “cannibal,” and Cassio contains an “ass.”
What’s in a Name? Writers and Their Anthroponymy
Anthony Paletta
February 28, 2013

Historical Examples of caliban

Caliban had crept within a foot of him, and was pulling himself into position.
"Wee Tim'rous Beasties"
Douglas English
Again and again he parried the attack, until Caliban was disposed of.
"Wee Tim'rous Beasties"
Douglas English
As Caliban fell he had clambered up, and was now blocking the entrance.
"Wee Tim'rous Beasties"
Douglas English
It was Caliban, as well as Ferdinand, courting fair Miranda.
The Complete Prose Works of Martin Farquhar Tupper
Martin Farquhar Tupper
The mother might have been a twin sister of Sycorax, the dam of Caliban.
The Kentucky Ranger
Edward T. Curnick

British Dictionary definitions for caliban

Caliban

noun

a brutish or brutalized man

Word Origin for Caliban

C19: after a character in Shakespeare's The Tempest (1611)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012