cannibalizationn.
/ˌkanᵻbəlʌɪˈzeɪʃn/, /ˌkanᵻbl̩ʌɪˈzeɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌkænəbələˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/, /ˌkænəbəˌlaɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/ΚΠ
1847 Bell's Life in Sydney 15 May (heading) Cannibalization of New South Wales... The importation of labor will in the course of a very short time amount to 1,000 savages.
2. The fact or process of eating the flesh of, or having one's flesh eaten by, a member of the same species, esp. by another human.
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1880 N.-Y. Times 15 Dec. 3/2 Not even the testimony of a missionary of 30 years' standing will suffice to make us give up the old and well-seasoned story of the cannibalization of Capt. Cook.
1947 Jrnl. Infectious Dis. 80 266/2 Cannibalization by the other rats of the group may have increased the survivors' capacity to form antibody.
1987 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 14 Feb. (Saturday Review section) 43 Of the more bizarre explanations suggested by students is the cannibalisation theory, which has Marion, Miranda and Miss McCraw eaten by Edith.
2014 G. E. O'Malley Final Passages 83 The captives on the Amistad only mutinied once they became convinced that it was their last hope of avoiding cannibalization.
3. The absorption or destruction of something of a similar kind; spec. in Business the reduction of the sales of or market for a product by the introduction of another similar product; the acquisition and absorption of a smaller company by a larger one (see cannibalize v. 1).In quot. 1907: the absorption or consumption of one's own body tissue; cf. autophagy n. 1.
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1907 E. Cutter & J. A. Cutter Food 340 Animals can live a limited time on themselves, a sort of cannibalization by which they grow poor, wasting their own tissues..for body power.
1942 Ld. Alanbrooke Diary 17 Dec. in War Diaries (2001) 349 In the evening Cabinet at 6 pm at which cannibalization of 2 divisions in ME [sc. Middle East] was to be discussed.
1972 Accountant 17 Aug. 193/2 The cannibalization of assets, particularly of real estate subsidiaries.
1995 Macworld Oct. 41/1 Apple may also face cannibalization of its market share from PReP machines.
2017 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 21 June (Business) 7 Rising competition, increased price discounting, new store cannibalisation and a weak consumer environment likely to continue for some time.
4. The removal or taking of a part of something for use in another of a similar kind; (also) the breaking up of something to provide parts for another.
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the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > [noun] > re-use > re-use as part of something else
cannibalism1846
cannibalization1942
1942 Washington Post 4 July 10/2 The British in Libya were reduced to what the correspondents call ‘cannibalization’—a name for the breaking up of brand-new tanks for the provision of essential spares.
1947 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 51 981/2 The necessity for removing serviceable parts from one aircraft to service another. Cannibalisation, often of a new aircraft, was frequently the only method of maintaining reasonable serviceability.
1974 Times 23 Apr. 8/3 These new paintings are curious works of cannibalization. Parody, irony, even homage are hinted at, but never made explicit.
2010 Korea Herald (Nexis) 8 Mar. Maintenance crews have resorted to ‘cannibalization’—taking parts from one plane to fix another—to get around the problem in getting parts.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1847