Carib
[kar-ib]
- a member of a group of Indian peoples formerly dominant through the Lesser Antilles, now found in small numbers in a few areas of the West Indies and in parts of Central America and northeastern South America.
- the family of languages spoken by the Caribs.
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Origin of Carib
1545–55; < Spanish caribe < Arawak
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for carib
Historical Examples
Morgan and Carib had taken care that no one had marked their departure.
Sir Henry Morgan, BuccaneerCyrus Townsend Brady
The population was largely Carib, a savage race given to cannibalism.
Plotting in Pirate SeasFrancis Rolt-Wheeler
The Carib women in Surinam think that large calves of the leg are a beauty.
FolkwaysWilliam Graham Sumner
A Carib chief arriving with a slave, offered him for sale to the English governor.
The Western WorldW.H.G. Kingston
On the banks of the Pomaroon lived a Carib family, with a number of small children.
The Western WorldW.H.G. Kingston
Carib
- plural -ibs or -ib a member of a group of American Indian peoples of NE South America and the Lesser Antilles
- the family of languages spoken by these peoples
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Word Origin
C16: from Spanish Caribe, from Arawak
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 carib
Carib
n.
1550s, from Spanish Caribe, from Arawakan kalingo or kalino, said to mean "brave ones" or else "strong men." As an adjective by 1881.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper