Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Cannibal \Can"ni*bal\, n. [Cf. F. cannibale. Columbus, in a
   letter to the Spanish monarchs written in Oct., 1498,
   mentions that the people of Hayti lived in great fear of the
   Caribales (equivalent to E. Caribbees.), the inhabitants of
   the smaller Antilles; which form of the name was afterward
   changed into NL. Canibales, in order to express more forcibly
   their character by a word intelligible through a Latin root
   ``propter rabiem caninam anthropophagorum gentis.'' The
   Caribbees call themselves, in their own language. Calinago,
   Carinago, Calliponam, and, abbreviated, Calina, signifying a
   brave, from which Columbus formed his Caribales.]
   A human being that eats human flesh; hence, any that devours
   its own kind. --Darwin.

Cannibal \Can"ni*bal\, a.
   Relating to cannibals or cannibalism. ``Cannibal terror.''
   --Burke.

Source : WordNet®

cannibal
     n : a person who eats human flesh [syn: {man-eater}, {anthropophagus},
          {anthropophagite}]