cannibal

[kan-uh-buh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cannibal ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

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

Related formscan·ni·bal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cannibal

savage, ogre, primitive, brute, aborigine, ruffian, anthropophagite, ogress, head-hunter

Examples from the Web for cannibal

Contemporary Examples of cannibal

Amirpour's next project is one she bills as a “Texas cannibal love story.”
The Punk Behind Iran's Only Vampire Spaghetti Western-Style Love Story
Melissa Leon
November 21, 2014
Fellow cops at the 26th Precinct in upper Manhattan wondered if they really had been working with a cannibal.
Why NYPD Couldn’t Cook The ‘Cannibal Cop’
Michael Daly
July 2, 2014
The headline: "Three Englishmen Saved From Boiling Pot By Cannibal Chief, Who Was Friend at Oxford."
The Story Behind The World’s Greatest Headline
Brandy Zadrozny
January 21, 2014
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
The Cannibal Cop may end up being saved by his own sick and shameful words.
Cannibal Cop May Be Saved by His Own Words
Michael Daly
February 28, 2013

Historical Examples of cannibal

"But how came you to live among these cannibal demons," asked Raiko.
Japanese Fairy World
William Elliot Griffis
"Or 'Youmale,' the Caribbean cannibal of the lake of the Caimans," continued a third.
A Romance of the West Indies
Eugne Sue
It may come from a rival—from the buccaneer, the filibuster, or the cannibal.
A Romance of the West Indies
Eugne Sue
"Nay, elder, I am not all out a cannibal and ogre," replied the captain.
Standish of Standish
Jane G. Austin
The Cosmos as such is cannibal; as old Time ate his children.
A Miscellany of Men
G. K. Chesterton

British Dictionary definitions for cannibal

cannibal

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for 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.