Carib

Definition

A member of one of a number of Amerindian peoples who inhabit the coast of Central and South America and the Lesser Antilles.

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish Caribe, likely from a Kalinago term corresponding to karifuna (“Kalinago person”) in modern Kalinago, a borrowing from a Cariban language, ultimately from Proto-Cariban *karipona (“person”). Compare Kari'na karìna (“Carib person”). Doublet of cannibal, caribe, Carijona, Galibi, Garifuna, and Kari'na.

Example Sentences

• "Mr. Dougherty had intended to make the outing with his unwonted wife an inconspicuous one. Uxoriousness was a weakness that the precepts of the Caribs did not countenance."
• "Another people, the Surinen, lived near the coast. Like the Arawaks and the Caribs, they had migrated northward into Suriname. The Arawak and Carib peoples greatly outnumbered the Surinen. The Surinen were disappearing by the late 1400s."