embryo cannibal

[eyesingle]

em-bry-o             (embre-o)n.pl. em-bry-os. 1.   An organism in its early stages of development, especially before it has reached a distinctively recognizable form. An organism at any time before full development, birth, or hatching. 2.   The fertilized egg of a vertebrate animal following cleavage. In human beings, the prefetal product of conception from implantation through the eighth week of development. 3. Botany. The minute, rudimentary plant contained within a seed or an archegonium. 4. A rudimentary or beginning stage: "To its founding fathers, the European [Economic] Community was the embryo of the United States of Europe" (Economist).[Medieval Latin embryo, from Greek embruon : en-, in. See EN-2 + bruein, to be full to bursting.]

can-ni-bal             (kan-bl)n. 1. A person who eats the flesh of other human beings. 2. An animal that feeds on others of its own kind.[From Spanish Canibalis, name (as recorded by Christopher Columbus) of the man-eating Caribs of Cuba and Haiti, variant of caribalis, from Arawak caniba, carib, an ethnic name.]--can'ni-bal-ism n. --can'ni-bal-is'tic adj.