Plural of anthropophagus; people who practice cannibalism or are believed to eat human flesh.
From Greek anthropos (human) + phagos (eater). The term was used by ancient Greek and Roman writers to describe 'savage' peoples, often more as myth than fact.
Shakespeare mentions anthropophagi in Othello as mysterious distant peoples—the word was used more to represent 'the unknown other' in colonial thinking than to describe actual practices, making it a fascinating example of how language shapes prejudice.
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