Caliban

American  

[kal-uh-ban] / ˈkæl əˌbæn /

noun

1. a character in Shakespeare's The Tempest, described as the half-human native inhabitant of the island, who is enslaved by the character Prospero.

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Caliban British  

/ ˈkælɪˌbæn /

noun

1. a brutish or brutalized man

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Etymology

Origin of Caliban

First recorded in 1610–15; probably a variant of cannibal ( def. ) or Carib ( def. )

Example Sentences

“The isle is full of noises,” sings Caliban, and on Tuesday night it certainly was.

From New York Times • Aug. 31, 2023

That led Orwell to write his landmark The Road To Wigan Pier, which was published two years after Caliban Shrieks.

From BBC • Jul. 7, 2023

Caliban, Prospero’s malformed lackey, has been reclaimed by postcolonial critics as an example of an oppressed “other,” an enslaved man whose dignity has been denied by European imperialists.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2023

Onto the stage they tumble — four arms, four legs, two torsos, two heads — to embody a single character: Caliban, the vengeance-seeking denizen of Prospero’s magic isle in “The Tempest.”

From Washington Post • Jan. 26, 2023

Sycorax and Caliban smashed into the gate and poked their yellow scabby snouts through.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt