Etymology
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cannibalism (n.)

"the eating of human flesh by human beings," 1796, from cannibal + -ism. Perhaps from French cannibalisme, which is attested from the same year.

Entries linking to cannibalism

cannibal (n.)
"human that eats human flesh," 1550s, from Spanish canibal, caribal "a savage, cannibal," from Caniba, Christopher Columbus' rendition of the Caribs' name for themselves (often given in modern transliterations as kalino or karina; see Carib, and compare Caliban).

The natives were believed by the Europeans to be anthropophagites. Columbus, seeking evidence that he was in Asia, thought the name meant the natives were subjects of the Great Khan. The form was reinforced by later writers who connected it to Latin canis "dog," in reference to their supposed voracity, a coincidence which "naturally tickled the etymological fancy of the 16th c." [OED]. The Spanish word had reached French by 1515. Used of animals from 1796. An Old English word for "cannibal" was selfæta.
-ism 
word-forming element making nouns implying a practice, system, doctrine, etc., from French -isme or directly from Latin -isma, -ismus (source also of Italian, Spanish -ismo, Dutch, German -ismus), from Greek -ismos, noun ending signifying the practice or teaching of a thing, from the stem of verbs in -izein, a verb-forming element denoting the doing of the noun or adjective to which it is attached. For distinction of use, see -ity. The related Greek suffix -isma(t)- affects some forms.

updated on September 27, 2017

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Definitions of cannibalism from WordNet

cannibalism (n.)
the practice of eating the flesh of your own kind;
From wordnet.princeton.edu, not affiliated with etymonline.

Dictionary entries near cannibalism

canned

cannery

Cannes

cannibal

cannibalise

cannibalism

cannibalistic

cannibalization

cannibalize

cannister

cannoli

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