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.

---

Caliban British  

/ ˈkælɪˌbæn /

noun

1. a brutish or brutalized man

---

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

That led Orwell to write his landmark The Road To Wigan Pier, which was published two years after Caliban Shrieks.

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

Caliban gives these fellows the idea of killing Prospero and taking over the island, but they quickly reveal themselves to be his moral inferiors.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2023

It wouldn’t have taken much for him to be able to play Caliban on the Festival Theater stage.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt