Daily Almanac for
Dec 2, 2009
Search White Pages
Search: Infoplease Info search tips
Search: Biographies Bio search tips
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—C

Caliban

Rude, uncouth, unknown; as a Caliban style, a Caliban language. The allusion is to Shakespeare's Caliban (The Tempestnew creation, but also a new language.

“Satan had not the privilege, as Caliban, to use new phrases, and diction unknown.” —Dr. Bentley.

Coleridge says, “In him [Caliban], as in some brute animals, this advance to the intellectual faculties, without the moral sense, is marked by the appearance of vice.”

(Caliban is the “missing link” between brute animals and man.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Calibre
Calf-skin
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

More on Caliban from Infoplease:

    • Cite
    • Print
    • Bookmark

Related Content