Caribbean
UK[ˌkærɪˈbiːən]US[kəˈrɪbiən]
adj
Relating to the Caribbean Sea, its islands, or the surrounding region.
n
The Caribbean Sea or the region containing its islands.
Etymology
The word 'Caribbean' originates from the name of the Carib people, an indigenous group encountered by European explorers in the Lesser Antilles. Their name for themselves, recorded in early Spanish as 'Caribe', likely derives from a Proto-Cariban root meaning "person". The suffix '-an' is an English adjectival ending, added to form the geographical term. Thus, the term evolved from an ethnonym for a specific people to its modern geographical sense denoting the sea and islands of the region associated with their historical territory.
Analysis
The word is a simplex loanword from an indigenous language, adopted into English as a single unit.
Examples
The Caribbean climate is ideal for growing sugarcane.
We took a cruise through the Caribbean last winter.
Caribbean music, like reggae and calypso, is known worldwide.