cannibal
UK[ˈkænɪbəl]US[ˈkænɪbəl]
n
a person who eats the flesh of other human beings.
n
an animal that feeds on others of its own kind.
Etymology
the word 'cannibal' entered english in the mid-16th century from spanish 'caníbal', which itself was a variant of 'caríbal', a name for the carib people of the west indies. the spanish form was influenced by 'can', the latin word for dog, likely due to european perceptions of the caribs' alleged ferocity and anthropophagous practices. ultimately, the term traces back to 'karibna', the caribs' name for themselves, meaning 'person'. thus, the word's journey reflects a colonial encounter where an indigenous ethnonym was transformed, through a lens of fear and otherness, into a universal term for the act of human consumption.
Analysis
the word is a simplex loanword. it does not contain separable morphemes within its modern english spelling that carry distinct, analyzable meanings.
Examples
the survivors of the shipwreck were driven by hunger to become cannibals.
in some species of spiders, the female is a cannibal, consuming the male after mating.
the explorer's tales of encountering cannibal tribes both horrified and fascinated the european public.