anthropophagy
/ˌæn.θɹəˈpɒ.fə.d͡ʒi/
anthropophagy means the act or practice of eating human flesh, especially in the context of human cannibalism. It carries an Arena rating of 1422, earned across 8 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, anthropophagy ranks #162 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #773 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #1,143 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #1,393 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words.
anthropophagy is pronounced /ˌæn.θɹəˈpɒ.fə.d͡ʒi/.
Why “anthropophagy” is a great word
The consumption of human flesh, derived from French anthropophagie, from Late Latin anthropophagia, and from Greek anthrōpophagía, from anthrōpophagos ("man-eating"), itself from anthrōpo- ("human") and -phagos ("eating"), first recorded in English in the 1630s. Unlike "cannibalism," with its blunt, folkloric resonance, or "omophagy," which specifies rawness rather than the species consumed, anthropophagy is the clinical, taxonomic term that places the act within a catalogue of human behaviors. It is the dry rustle of academic papers in a hushed library, the precise label on a museum display of ritual artifacts, and the dispassionate ledger entry for a siege—a word whose very sterility renders the horror more profound, allowing us to examine the unthinkable from the safe, cold remove of taxonomy.
Etymology
From anthropo- + -phagy.
noun
- The act or practice of eating human flesh, especially in the context of human cannibalism
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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