cannibalism

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the practice of a human eating human flesh

   The archaeological claim of cannibalism depended on cut marks found on human bones.

2. 2
   noun

   the behavior of an animal eating another member of its own species

   Food shortages can increase cannibalism among some insects and fish.

Formed from cannibal + -ism. Cannibal entered English through Spanish canibal, an early variant associated with the name of the Carib people; European reports generalized the ethnonym into a word for a person said to eat human flesh.

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