cannibal
[ kan-uh-buh l ]
/ ˈkæn ə bəl /
noun
a person who eats human flesh, especially for magical or religious purposes, as among certain tribal peoples.
any animal that eats its own kind.
adjective
pertaining to or characteristic of a cannibal.
given to cannibalism.
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
- cannelure,
- canner,
- cannery,
- cannes,
- cannetille,
- cannibalism,
- cannibalistic,
- cannibalization,
- cannibalize,
- cannikin
Origin of cannibal
1545–55; < Spanish caníbal, variant of caríbal, equivalent to canib-, carib- (< Arawak) + -al -al1; from the belief that the Caribs of the West Indies ate human flesh
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for cannibal
cannibal
/ (ˈkænɪbəl) /
noun
- a person who eats the flesh of other human beings
- (as modifier)cannibal tribes
an animal that feeds on the flesh of others of its kind
Word Origin for cannibal
C16: from Spanish Canibales, name used by Columbus to designate the Caribs of Cuba and Haiti, from Arawak caniba, variant of Carib
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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cannibal
"human that eats human flesh," 1550s, from Spanish canibal, caribal "a savage, cannibal," from Caniba, Christopher Columbus' rendition of the Caribs' name for themselves (see Caribbean). The natives were believed to be anthropophagites. Columbus, seeking evidence that he was in Asia, thought the name meant the natives were subjects of the Great Khan. Shakespeare's Caliban (in "The Tempest") is from a version of this word, with -n- and -l- interchanged, found in Hakluyt's "Voyages" (1599). The Spanish word had reached French by 1515. Used of animals from 1796. An Old English word for "cannibal" was selfæta.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper