cannibal

Where does the word "cannibal" come from? It comes from Arawakan/Carib Caniba, passing through Spanish before entering English (1550s).

Cannibal’s story begins in Arawakan/Carib: Caniba meant “the Carib people.” A name for the Carib people, as recorded by Columbus. By 1490s, the word had taken hold in Spanish as canibal. Associated with reports of the Caribs' practices. It reached English by 1550s as cannibal. First recorded in 1541 in Roger Barlow's English version of a Spanish geography of the New World; generalized to mean anyone who eats human flesh. Today, cannibal means a person or animal that eats the flesh of its own species.

1. Stage 1 · Arawakan/Carib · pre-1500s Caniba "the Carib people", a name for the Carib people, as recorded by Columbus.
2. Stage 2 · Spanish · 1490s canibal "a Carib; a man-eater", associated with reports of the Caribs' practices.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1550s cannibal "one who eats human flesh", first recorded in 1541 in Roger Barlow's English version of a Spanish geography of the New World; generalized to mean anyone who eats human flesh.