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

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

“The isle is full of noises,/ Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not,” Caliban observes.

From Washington Post • Dec. 1, 2022

And by the way, for the record, I didn’t exactly say “Oh” when Sycorax and Caliban jumped out from the cages.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt