cannibal
pronunciation
How to pronounce cannibal in British English:
UK [ˈkænɪbl]
How to pronounce cannibal in American English:
US [ˈkænəbəl]
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- Noun:
- a person who eats human flesh
Word Origin
- cannibal
- cannibal: [16] Cannibal was originally a proper name, applied by the Spaniards to the Carib people of the West Indies (whom they regarded as eaters of human flesh). It is a variant, originally used by Christopher Columbus, of Caribes, which comes from Carib, a word of Carib origin in the Arawakan language of northern South America and the Caribbean. It is related to the Caribs’ name for themselves, Galibi, literally ‘strong men’.
- 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.
Example
- 1. I don 't want to be a cannibal .
- 2. How come you were a cannibal ?
- 3. I killed the cannibal !
- 4. Is this an old cannibal trick ?
- 5. Basically , a cannibal in its original sense is someone who hails from the caribbean .