anthropophagous
- adjective
- /ˌænθrəˈpɒfɪgəs/
- Offensive
:
antropófago
- Stories about anthropophagous beings have sparked fear and fascination in many cultures throughout history.
Examples
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In ancient times, certain tribes were known for their anthropophagous practices, which were often depicted in folklore and myths.
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The legend spoke of an anthropophagous creature that would terrorize villagers by devouring anyone who strayed too far from home.
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They are very kind people and not anthropophagous.
Academic text (1991)
Synonyms
6
8.4
Describing animals or people who eat members of their own kind
Involving eating human flesh
Being very cruel and violent, like someone who eats people
Surface Forms
Morphology
anthropophagous = anthropophagy (opaque) = anthropo + phag + ous
Formed from Greek combining elements ('anthropo-' + '-phag-') with an adjective ending; these learned combining forms are not familiar to most intermediate learners, making the relation to 'human' and 'eat' non-obvious.
Etymology
The word anthropophagous comes from two Greek parts: anthropo- meaning 'human' (as in anthropology) and -phagous meaning 'eating'. So, anthropophagous literally means 'human-eating' and is used for animals or beings that eat people.