cannibal
[kan-uh-buh l]
- a person who eats human flesh, especially for magical or religious purposes, as among certain tribal peoples.
- any animal that eats its own kind.
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- pertaining to or characteristic of a cannibal.
- given to cannibalism.
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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. 2018
Examples from the Web for cannibal
Contemporary Examples
Amirpour's next project is one she bills as a “Texas cannibal love story.”
Fellow cops at the 26th Precinct in upper Manhattan wondered if they really had been working with a cannibal.
The headline: "Three Englishmen Saved From Boiling Pot By Cannibal Chief, Who Was Friend at Oxford."
And cruder devices certainly deepen the effect of a name; Caliban is a rough anagram of “cannibal,” and Cassio contains an “ass.”
The Cannibal Cop may end up being saved by his own sick and shameful words.
Historical Examples
"But how came you to live among these cannibal demons," asked Raiko.
Japanese Fairy WorldWilliam Elliot Griffis
"Or 'Youmale,' the Caribbean cannibal of the lake of the Caimans," continued a third.
A Romance of the West IndiesEugne Sue
It may come from a rival—from the buccaneer, the filibuster, or the cannibal.
A Romance of the West IndiesEugne Sue
"Nay, elder, I am not all out a cannibal and ogre," replied the captain.
Standish of StandishJane G. Austin
The Cosmos as such is cannibal; as old Time ate his children.
A Miscellany of MenG. K. Chesterton
cannibal
- 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
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Word Origin
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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Word Origin and History for cannibal
n.
"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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper