Christopher Columbus, when he landed in Cuba, inquired of the natives how they were named.
In their dialect they said that they were Canibales, or people of Caniba. Because Columbus thought that he was in Asia, however, he took this to mean that the people were subjects of the Great Khan, or Great Can, as the name was sometimes spelled.
Actually, however, Caniba was no more than a dialectal form of Caribe, and the Cuban natives were Caribs. Later explorers used either name, Canibales or Caribes, in referring to any of the people of the West Indies.
They learned also that all of these people were very fierce.
Some were known to be eaters of human flesh, so within less than a century after the voyages of Columbus all Europeans, hearing the name Canibales, promptly associated it with man-eaters, or anthropophagi, until at last that became its accepted meaning.
The change in English spelling to cannibal took place in the seventeenth century.
Related Posts
-
Who was the Cannibal at the North End of the World and How is the Hamatsa Dance ritual performed?
Among the Kwakiutl Natives, the most important ritual of the winter ceremonials was a dance performed by a special group known as the Hamatsa Society. The Hamatsa Dance told the story of their…
-
What does the word “gauntlet” mean and Where does the word gauntlet come from?
During the Thirty Years' War, which lasted from 1618 to 1648, the English forces observed a form of disciplinary punishment used among their German allies. It looked highly effective, so it was not…
-
What does the word incubus (succubus) mean and Where does the word “incubus” come from?
In the Middle Ages any woman who gave birth to a witch or sorceress was supposed to have been visited, in her sleep, by a male demon or evil spirit. The name given…
-
Where does the word “Toilet” come from and What does the word Toilet mean in French?
The word "toilet" has had a rather curious development in the little more than four hundred years it has been in the language. Its origin was the French toilette, the diminutive of wile,…
-
What Does the Word Scapegoat Mean and Where Did the Word Scapegoat Come From?
A Scapegoat is a member of a group singled out for undeserved blame or negative treatment. The word "scapegoat" is a mistranslation of the word Azazel. An early Greek translation of the Old…
-
What Does the Word “Clock” Mean in French and Where Did the Word For a Large Timepiece Come From?
Like cloche in French, the word clock literally means bell. When the large mechanical clock was invented in the fourteenth century it didn't tell time with a face and hands, but rather by…
