werewolf
Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
were·wolf
also wer·wolf (wâr′wo͝olf′, wîr′-, wûr′-)n.
A person believed to have been transformed into a wolf or to be capable of assuming the form of a wolf.
[Middle English, from Old English werewulf : wer, man; see wī-ro- in Indo-European roots + wulf, wolf; see wolf.]
Word History: The meaning wolf in werewolf is current English; the were is not. Werewulf, "werewolf," occurs only once in Old English, about the year 1000, in the laws of King Canute: "lest the madly ravenous werewolf too savagely tear or devour too much from a godly flock." The wer- or were- in wer(e)wulf means "man"; it is related to Latin vir with the same meaning, the source of virile and virility. Both the Germanic and the Latin words derive from Indo-European *wīro-, "man." Wer- also appears, though much disguised, in the word world. World is first recorded (written wiaralde) in Old English in a charter dated 832; the form worold occurs in Beowulf. The Old English forms come from Germanic *wer-ald-, "were-eld" or "man-age." The transfer of meaning from the age of humans to the place where they live has a parallel in the Latin word saeculum, "age, generation, lifetime," later "world."
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
werewolf
(ˈwɪəˌwʊlf; ˈwɛə-)n, pl -wolves
(European Myth & Legend) a person fabled in folklore and superstition to have been changed into a wolf by being bewitched or said to be able to assume wolf form at will
[Old English werewulf, from wer man + wulf wolf; related to Old High German werwolf, Middle Dutch weerwolf]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
were•wolf
or wer•wolf
(ˈwɛərˌwʊlf, ˈwɪər-, ˈwɜr-)n., pl. -wolves (-ˌwʊlvz)
(in folklore) a person who has assumed the form of a wolf.
[before 1000; Middle English werwolf, Old English werwulf=wer man (c. Gothic wair, Latin vir) + wulf wolf; c. Middle Dutch weerwolf, Old High German werwolf]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  werewolf - a monster able to change appearance from human to wolf and back againmythical creature, mythical monster - a monster renowned in folklore and myth |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
vlkodlak
varulv
lupfantomo
licántropolobizónhombre lobo
libahunt
ihmissusi
vukodlak
farkasembervérfarkas
varúlfur
weerwolf
wilkołak
pricolici
vlkolak
varulv
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
werewolf
n → Werwolf m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995