A term for a savage, brutish, or enslaved person, derived from Shakespeare's character in The Tempest.
From Shakespeare's play The Tempest (1610-1611), where Caliban is the enslaved creature of the island. Scholars debate the name's origin—possibly from 'cannibal' or from Spanish 'carib.' Over time it became a literary reference and sometimes a derogatory term.
Shakespeare created this character as a commentary on colonialism, yet the name became used as an insult—showing how fiction can shape real prejudices. It's a word that reveals more about the people using it than the people it describes.
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