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cannibal

 - 4 dictionary results

can⋅ni⋅bal

  [kan-uh-buhl]
Use cannibal in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person who eats human flesh, esp. for magical or religious purposes, as among certain tribal peoples.
2. any animal that eats its own kind.
–adjective
3. pertaining to or characteristic of a cannibal.
4. given to cannibalism.
Origin:
1545–55; < Sp caníbal, var. of caríbal, equiv. to canib-, carib- (< Arawak) + -al -al 1 ; from the belief that the Caribs of the West Indies ate human flesh

Related forms:
can⋅ni⋅bal⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To cannibal
can·ni·bal   (kān'ə-bəl)   
n.  

  1. A person who eats the flesh of other humans.

  2. An animal that feeds on others of its own kind.


[From Spanish Caníbalis, name (as recorded by Christopher Columbus) of the allegedly cannibalistic Caribs of Cuba and Haiti, from earlier Carib karibna, person, Carib.]
can'ni·bal·ism n., can'ni·bal·is'tic adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

cannibal 
1553, from Sp. canibal "a savage, cannibal," from Caniba, Christopher Columbus' rendition of the Caribs' name for themselves, Galibi "brave men." 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 a version of this word, with -n- and -l- interchanged, found in Hakluyt's "Voyages" (1599). Cannibalize of machinery, etc., first recorded 1943, reflecting war-time shortages.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: can·ni·bal
Pronunciation: 'kan-&-b&l
Function: noun
: one that eats the flesh of its own kind —cannibal adjective
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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