What does anthropophagite mean?
An anthropophagite is a human being who eats human flesh — in plainer terms, a cannibal. Derived from Greek roots meaning 'human' and 'to eat', the word carries a scholarly, slightly archaic flavor that sets it apart from its more familiar synonym. It appears most often in historical accounts, anthropology, travel writing, and literature, where authors have reached for it to lend gravity or exotic horror to descriptions of flesh-eating peoples or legendary monsters such as giants and ogres. Because the word emphasizes the act from a detached, classical vantage point, it can read as clinical or sensational depending on context. Though rarely used in conversation today, it remains valuable to readers of older texts and to writers seeking a precise, learned alternative to 'cannibal'. Related forms include anthropophagy, the practice itself, and anthropophagous, the corresponding adjective describing flesh-eating behavior or peoples.
nounA person who eats human flesh; a cannibal. The term is a formal or literary synonym of 'cannibal', often used in historical, anthropological, or sensational writing.
- A human being who eats human flesh; a cannibal.
"Early explorers' accounts of the region were filled with lurid tales of anthropophagites."
"The Victorian press delighted in portraying distant tribes as anthropophagites."
"In classical legend, figures like Polyphemus were sometimes described as anthropophagites."
Regular plural; typically used when referring to peoples or groups described as eating human flesh.
"Ancient writers described several distant tribes as anthropophagites."
Before 'cannibal' entered English from Columbus's mishearing of a Caribbean people's name, writers described flesh-eaters with this Greek-derived word — literally 'one who eats humans'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of anthropophagite
Anthropophagite comes from Greek: 'anthrōpos' meaning human being and 'phagein' meaning to eat, combined as 'anthrōpophagos' ('man-eater'). The word passed into Latin and then into European languages, entering English in the early modern period, when classical learning supplied vocabulary for describing reported cannibalism in newly encountered lands. It shares its roots with words such as anthropology and anthropomorphic (from 'anthrōpos') and sarcophagus (from 'phagein').
Related word forms
How anthropophagite is actually used
Formal and somewhat archaic in register; it appears mainly in historical, anthropological, or literary contexts rather than everyday speech, where 'cannibal' dominates.
Easily confused with anthropophagite
Anthropophagy is the practice or act of eating human flesh, while an anthropophagite is the person who does it.
Cannibal is the common everyday term for someone who eats members of their own species, whereas anthropophagite is a rarer, more learned word for a human who eats human flesh.