were·wolf also wer·wolf (wâr w lf , 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 w  -ro- in Indo-European roots + wulf, wolf; see wolf.]Word History: The 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 *w ro-, "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." |
werewolf [ˈwɪəˌwʊlf ˈwɛə-]
n pl -wolves
(Myth & Legend / 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]
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| 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 |
Translations
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