cannibal

noun

can·​ni·​bal ˈka-nə-bəl 

: one that eats the flesh of its own kind

Examples of cannibal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Do the zombies need to be dead or can they just be infected with a virus that turns them into mindless cannibals? —James Grebey, Time, 20 June 2025

Think back to Season 1 when Ellie is captured by the cannibals. —Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 26 May 2025

Portrayed as cannibals, child-killers, and corpse-defilers, enemies become existential threats and the worst imaginable offenders, lying beyond the pale of redemption. —Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 17 May 2025

Within the shadows of the forest, come the whispers of an ancient tribe of cannibals, known as Batow. —Sara Merican, Deadline, 28 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

New Latin Canibalis Carib, from Spanish Caníbal, from Taino Caniba, of Cariban origin; akin to Carib kariʔna Carib, person

First Known Use

1541, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

cannibal

noun

can·​ni·​bal ˈkan-ə-bəl 

: a human being or an animal that eats its own kind

Etymology

from New Latin Canibalis "Carib," from Spanish Caníbal (same meaning), from Taino (American Indian language of the Greater Antilles) Caniba (same meaning), of Carib origin

Word Origin

On Christopher Columbus's first voyage to the New World the Indigenous peoples whom he encountered in Cuba and Hispaniola told him about a people living to their east, who periodically raided them and whom they greatly feared. In his log Columbus recorded a number of phonetically similar names for this people, including caníbales and caribes. The Spanish court historian Petrus Martyr wrote a Latin account of Columbus's discoveries, first printed in 1516, that used these two words and widely distributed them throughout Europe. In Petrus Martyr's words, "the inhabitants of these islands assert that the Canibales or Caribes are eaters of human flesh." Later, the meaning of the two words diverged. Caribes was applied to the Carib-speaking peoples of the Lesser Antilles and South America who were so feared by their neighbors; it is also ultimately the base of the word Caribbean. Canibales passed into English as a generic word for any creature that eats the flesh of its own kind.

Medical Definition

cannibal

noun

can·​ni·​bal ˈkan-ə-bəl 

: one that eats the flesh of its own kind

cannibal adjective