Meanings
plural cannibals
- An organism which eats others of its own species or kind, especially a human who consumes human flesh.
[…] that the larvae of Thecla calanus is a cannibal, eating its weaker brethren when short of food.
1908, James William Tutt, A natural history of the British Lepidoptera: a text-book for students and collectors, page 655 more examples
These insects were not uncommon beneath stones. I found one cannibal scorpion quietly devouring another.
1845, Journal of Researches Into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries Visited During the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle round the World, page 204Up the cave I went, and after me came the others, and after them thundered the whole crowd of cannibals, mad with fury at the death of the woman.
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLCQuickly he learned their simple speech, their native customs, and the ethics of their wild, primitive tribal life. He found that they were not cannibals—that they looked with loathing and contempt upon men who ate men.
1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 127His expression slack, Green Spider methodically pried out another clod and swallowed it. “I'm a cannibal. Eating the Earth Mother. Chewing the flesh from her bones. Cannibal ... cannibal ... cannibal!” Otter tried to shake off his discomfort, […]
1995, Kathleen O'Neal Gear, W. Michael Gear, People of the Lakes, Macmillan, →ISBNBoth authors quote Paul Graham[…]: “You could parachute him [Sam Altman] into an island full of cannibals and come back in five years and he'd be the king.”
2025 May 24, Richard Waters, quoting Paul Graham, “AI’s flawed frontman”, in FT Weekend (Books section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10Synonyms: anthropophagus, man-eater
- abbreviationellipsisobsoleteslangCambridge UniversityEllipsis of cannibal boat.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn organism which eats others of its own species or kind, especially a human who consumes human flesh.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna person who eats human flesh
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Cariban*karipona
- Spanishcaribe
- Spanishcaríbal
- Spanishcaníba
- Englishcannibal
Borrowed from Spanish caníbal, from Taíno caniba, the Taíno form recorded by Christopher Columbus for the Caribs, who were greatly feared. From an Arawak language, probably Taíno, and ultimately from Proto-Cariban *karipona (“person”). Doublet of Carib, caribe, Garifuna, Carijona, Kari'na, and Caribbean.
More words from Spanish, Taíno, Proto-Cariban
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀνθρωποφάγος
- ἀνθρωποφάγος (anthrōpophágos)an organism which eats others of its own species
Arabic غُول, آكِلُ لُحُوم البَشْر
- غُول (ḡūl)an organism which eats others of its own species
- آكِلُ لُحُوم البَشْر (ʔākilu luḥūm al-bašr)an organism which eats others of its own species
Bengali রাক্ষস
- রাক্ষস (rakkhoś)an organism which eats others of its own species
Bulgarian каниба́л, човекоя́д
- каниба́л (kanibál)an organism which eats others of its own species
- човекоя́д (čovekojád)an organism which eats others of its own species
Catalan caníbal
- caníbalan organism which eats others of its own species
Chinese Mandarin 食人者, 吃同類的生物 /吃同类的生物
- 食人者 (shí rén zhě)an organism which eats others of its own species
- 吃同類的生物 /吃同类的生物 (chī tónglèi de shēngwù)an organism which eats others of its own species
Czech kanibal, lidožrout
- kanibalan organism which eats others of its own species
- lidožroutan organism which eats others of its own species
- lidojedan organism which eats others of its own species
Danish kannibal
- kannibalan organism which eats others of its own species
Dutch kannibaal
- kannibaalan organism which eats others of its own species
Esperanto kanibalo, kanibaliĉo
- kanibaloan organism which eats others of its own species
- kanibaliĉoan organism which eats others of its own species
- kanibalinoan organism which eats others of its own species
- samspecimanĝuloan organism which eats others of its own species
- antropofagoan organism which eats others of its own species
Estonian kannibal
- kannibalan organism which eats others of its own species
Finnish kannibaali, ihmissyöjä
- kannibaalian organism which eats others of its own species
- ihmissyöjäan organism which eats others of its own species
French cannibale
- cannibalean organism which eats others of its own species
German Kannibale, Kannibalin
- Kannibalean organism which eats others of its own species
- Kannibalinan organism which eats others of its own species
Greek κανίβαλος
- κανίβαλος (kanívalos)an organism which eats others of its own species
Hebrew קָנִיבָּל
- קָנִיבָּל (kanibál)an organism which eats others of its own species
Hindi नरभक्षी, नरभक्षक
- नरभक्षी (narbhakṣī)an organism which eats others of its own species
- नरभक्षक (narbhakṣak)an organism which eats others of its own species
- मानवभक्षी (mānavbhakṣī)an organism which eats others of its own species
- आदमखोर (ādamkhor)an organism which eats others of its own species
- आदमख़ोर (ādamxor)an organism which eats others of its own species
Hungarian kannibál
- kannibálan organism which eats others of its own species
Icelandic mannæta
- mannætaan organism which eats others of its own species
Indonesian kanibal
- kanibalan organism which eats others of its own species
Irish canablach
- canablachan organism which eats others of its own species
Italian cannibale, antropofago
- cannibalean organism which eats others of its own species
- antropofagoan organism which eats others of its own species
Japanese 人食い人種
- 人食い人種 (hitokui jinshu)an organism which eats others of its own species
Korean 식인종
- 식인종 (siginjong)an organism which eats others of its own species
Latin anthrōpophagus
- anthrōpophagusan organism which eats others of its own species
Malay kanibal
- kanibalan organism which eats others of its own species
Māori kaitangata
- kaitangataan organism which eats others of its own species
Norwegian Bokmål kannibal
- kannibalan organism which eats others of its own species
Polish antropofag, kanibal
- antropofagan organism which eats others of its own species
- kanibalan organism which eats others of its own species
- ludojadan organism which eats others of its own species
- ludożercaan organism which eats others of its own species
Portuguese canibal
- canibalan organism which eats others of its own species
Romanian canibal, canibală
- canibalan organism which eats others of its own species
- canibalăan organism which eats others of its own species
Russian канниба́л, людое́д
- канниба́л (kannibál)an organism which eats others of its own species
- людое́д (ljudojéd)an organism which eats others of its own species
Spanish caníbal
- caníbalan organism which eats others of its own species
Swedish kannibal
- kannibalan organism which eats others of its own species
Tagalog kaing-kapuwa
- kaing-kapuwaan organism which eats others of its own species
Turkish yamyam
- yamyaman organism which eats others of its own species
Ukrainian каніба́л, людоже́р
- каніба́л (kanibál)an organism which eats others of its own species
- людоже́р (ljudožér)an organism which eats others of its own species
- людої́д (ljudojíd)an organism which eats others of its own species
Urdu آدَمْ خور
- آدَمْ خور (ādam xor)an organism which eats others of its own species
Cite this entry
cannibal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cannibal
“cannibal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cannibal. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cannibal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cannibal.
Source: cannibal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.