What does cannibalized mean?
"Cannibalized" is the past tense and past participle of "cannibalize," a word with a strikingly vivid history. Its most concrete sense is mechanical: a machine, vehicle, or aircraft is cannibalized when its functioning parts are removed and used to repair or keep another unit operational. The sense extends naturally into commerce, where a new product is said to have cannibalized an existing one when it draws away its sales or customers — as when a company's streaming service undermines its own DVD rentals. Writers and artists may also be said to cannibalize their own earlier work when they reuse its themes or material. Despite its ghoulish etymology, the term carries no strong negative connotation today; in engineering and marketing contexts it is neutral, even routine. It derives ultimately from "cannibal," which entered European languages through Spanish accounts of the Caribbean Carib peoples, whose name was associated with ritual man-eating. The verb thus literally implies consuming one thing to sustain another.
verb (past tense and past participle of cannibalize)Past tense and past participle of cannibalize: to remove parts from one machine, vehicle, or object in order to repair or build another; more broadly, to take material, ideas, or customers from an existing source to serve a new purpose.
- To strip a machine, vehicle, or structure of its working parts in order to repair, maintain, or build another item.
- To take sales, customers, revenue, or audience away from an existing product, business, or publication, especially by introducing something new.
- To reuse or appropriate ideas, text, or creative material from one's own earlier work in a new piece.
"The airline cannibalized two retired jets to keep the rest of its fleet flying."
"Mechanics at the depot cannibalized the wrecked trucks to keep the delivery fleet running."
"Critics argued that the company's cheaper tablet would simply cannibalize its own laptop sales."
The word traces back to the Caribs, the Caribbean people whom early Spanish explorers accused of eating human flesh — so when your old car is 'cannibalized' for spare parts, it is literally being eaten.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cannibalized
"Cannibalize" derives from "cannibal," which Spanish colonizers formed from "Caníbal," their rendering of the name of the Carib people of the Caribbean, whom early chroniclers described as practicing ritual cannibalism. The noun entered English in the mid-16th century via Spanish, and the verb arose much later, in American English of the 19th century, first describing the stripping of machines and vehicles for parts before extending to commercial and creative senses. Related forms include "cannibalism" and "cannibalization."
Related word forms
How cannibalized is actually used
Neutral to slightly informal in register; standard in business, engineering, military, and media contexts. In British English the spelling is often 'cannibalised', with -s-. When applied to products or markets, the word carries no moral judgment — it describes internal substitution of demand rather than wrongdoing.
Easily confused with cannibalized
Cannonball is a round projectile fired from a cannon, while cannibalized means stripped for usable parts — they share only a loose sound similarity.