Karaib
/ˈkær.aɪb/noun
An obsolete variant spelling of Carib, referring to an Indigenous people of the Caribbean and their language.
Did you know?“Karaib” is an obsolete spelling of “Carib,” while “cannibal” arose when early Spanish writers associated the Carib people with reports of human-eating, a claim shaped by colonial bias and later amplified in European language.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian era
Island Carib
karibna
“A form associated with the Indigenous Carib people; the precise original sense is debated.”
15th–16th Century
Spanish
Caribe
“The Carib people and the region associated with them.”
16th Century
Spanish
caníbal
“A term applied to alleged man-eaters, probably reshaped from forms related to Caribe.”
16th–17th Century
French
Caraïbe
“Carib; relating to the Caribbean peoples or region.”
17th–19th Century
English
Karaib
“An obsolete English variant of Carib.”
Modern English
English
Carib
“The standard modern form referring to the Indigenous people or their language.”