werewolf

Meaning

Noun

• A person who is transformed or can transform into a wolf or a wolflike human, often said to transform during a full moon.

Related

Narrower meaning words

• werewolfess, werewoman, wolfwoman

Origin

• From Middle English werwolf, from Old English werwulf, from Proto-West Germanic *werawulf, from Proto-West Germanic *wer ("man") + *wulf. Equivalent to or . Cognate with Dutch weerwolf, Low German Warwulf, German Werwolf, Danish varulv, Swedish varulv and even possibly Finnish vironsusi.
• Compare also French garou, in loup-garou, French dialectal gairou, varou, Medieval Latin gerulphus, garulphus (from Germanic).