The word "cannibal" came about because of a misread
History of Moderator - Lisboa, Portugal
The word "cannibal" came about because of a misread. When Christopher Columbus discovered America, in 1492, he mentioned, in his travel diary, the anthropophagous forest dwellers as "caribales" (plural of caribal, in Spanish), that is, the inhabitants of the Caribbean. However, when reading the word, someone confused the "l" with the "n". Thus, the word "cannibal" was born... Did you know?