cannibal English · revision 2374

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkænɪbəl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|es|caníbal]], a variant of ''caríbal'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from ''Caniba'', the form in which Christopher Columbus recorded the name of the Caribs of Cuba and Haiti, who were believed to eat human flesh.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster gives Taino ''Caniba'', of Cariban origin, related to Carib ''kariʔna'' “person”.^(MW Collegiate) The form was reinforced by later writers who linked it to Latin ''canis'' “dog”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person who eats human flesh; originally the proper name of the man-eating Caribs of the West Indies (1553).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The name of a people became a general term for a person who eats human flesh,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and by 1796 was applied to animals that prey on their own species.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In the 16th century it was also a strong figurative term of abuse for a bloodthirsty person.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1553 – a man-eater.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1563–87 – figurative, a bloodthirsty savage.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1596 – attributive, cannibal-like, bloodthirsty.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1796 – an animal that preys on its own kind; also ''cannibalism''.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who eats human flesh.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An animal that eats others of its own kind.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or like a cannibal; given to cannibalism.^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cannibalism]]

+ * [[cannibalistic]]

+ * [[cannibally]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Carib]]

+ * [[Caribbean]]

+ * [[Caliban]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}