werewolf

English

Alternative forms

warwolf (obsolete)
wehrwolf (archaic)
were wolf (rare)
were-wolf
werwolf (dated)

Etymology

From Middle English werwolf, from Old English werwulf, from Proto-West Germanic *werawulf, from Proto-West Germanic *wer (“man”) + *wulf (“wolf”). Equivalent to wer +‎ wolf or were- +‎ wolf. 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 (“werewolf”), Medieval Latin gerulphus, garulphus (“werewolf”), all from Germanic, probably Frankish *werawulf.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwɛːwʊlf/, /ˈwɪəwʊlf/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈwɛəɹwʊlf/, /ˈwɪəɹwʊlf/, /ˈwɜɹwʊlf/

Noun

werewolf (plural werewolves)

(mythology) A person who is transformed or can transform into a wolf or a wolflike human, often said to transform during a full moon.
Synonyms: wolfman, lycanthrope, man-wolf

Hyponyms

(female): werewolfess, werewoman, wolfwoman

Derived terms

Translations

wolflike human

Albanian: luqerbull (sq) m
Arabic: مُسْتَذِئْب‎ (mustaḏiʔb)
Armenian: մարդագայլ (hy) (mardagayl)
Belarusian: ваўкала́к m (vaŭkalák), пярэ́варацень m (pjarévaracjenʹ), пе́раварацень m (pjéravaracjenʹ), скі́дзень m (skídzjenʹ)
Breton: den-bleiz
Bulgarian: въркола́к (bg) m (vǎrkolák)
Catalan: home llop m, licantrop m
Champenois: voirloup m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 狼人 (zh) (lángrén)
Cornish: gourvlyth
Czech: vlkodlak (cs) m
Danish: varulv c
Dutch: weerwolf (nl) m
Esperanto: lupfantomo, homlupo, luphomo (rare), likantropo (eo) (rare)
Estonian: libahunt
Faroese: varúlvur
Finnish: ihmissusi (fi), vironsusi
French: loup-garou (fr) m, garou (fr) m (archaic), lycanthrope (fr) m or f
Galician: lobishome (gl) m, licántropo (gl) m
Georgian: მაქცია (makcia), ლიკანთროპი (liḳantroṗi), მგელკაცა (mgelḳaca)
German: Werwolf (de) m, Werwölfin f, Mannwolf m, Lykanthrop m, Lykanthropin f
Greek: λυκάνθρωπος (el) m (lykánthropos)
Ancient: λυκάνθρωπος m (lukánthrōpos)
Hebrew: אָדָם זְאֵב‎ (he) m (adám zeév), אַנְשֵׁי זְאֵב‎ m pl (anshéi zeév)
Hindi: भेड़ियामानव (bheṛiyāmānav), भड़मानस (bhaṛmānas), वेरवुल्फ़ (vervulf)
Hungarian: farkasember, vérfarkas (hu)
Icelandic: varúlfur (is)
Ido: volfohomo (io), likantropo (io)
Indonesian: manusia serigala
Interlingua: lycanthropo
Irish: conriocht m, fearolc m
Italian: licantropo (it) m, lupo mannaro, uomo-lupo
Japanese: 狼男 (おおかみおとこ, ōkamiotoko), 人狼 (じんろう, jinrō), 狼人 (ろうじん, rōjin), 狼人間 (おおかみにんげん, ōkaminingen)
Korean: 늑대인간 (ko) (neukdaein'gan)
Latgalian: vylkataks m, vylkatece f
Latin: versipellis m, lycanthropus m, lupinotuum m, virlupus m
Latvian: vilkacis, vilkatis, vilkateks, kadars
Limburgish: waerwouf (li)
Lithuanian: vilktakas m, vilkolakis (lt) m
Low German: Węrwulf m, Werwulf m
German Low German: Warwulf m
Macedonian: врколак m (vrkolak)
Malay: serigala jadian, likantrop
Manx: conreeaght
Mongolian: хүн чоно (xün čono)
Norman: ouothou m (Jersey)
Norwegian: varulv m
Old English: werwulf m
Persian: گرگینه‎ (fa) (gorgine)
Polish: wilkołak (pl) m, likantrop m
Portuguese: lobisomem (pt) m, licantropo m, lobanil f
Romanian: pricolici (ro)
Russian: волкула́к m (volkulák), волкола́к (ru) m (volkolák), верво́льф m (vervólʹf), о́боротень (ru) m (óborotenʹ), ликантро́п (ru) m (likantróp), верво́лк m (vervólk)
Scottish Gaelic: fear-faol m, fearolc m
Serbo-Croatian: vukòdlak (sh) m, вуко̀длак m
Slovak: vlkolak (sk) m
Slovene: volkodlak (sl)
Spanish: hombre lobo (es) m, licántropo (es) m, lobisón m, lobisome m (Uruguay)
Swahili: nusumbwa, mtu-mbwa
Swedish: varulv (sv) c
Thai: มนุษย์หมาป่า (th) (má-nút-mǎa-bpàa)
Turkish: kurt adam, erbörü
Ukrainian: вовкула́ка m (vovkuláka), пере́вертень m (perévertenʹ), вовкула́к m (vovkulák), вовку́н m (vovkún)
Vietnamese: người sói (𠊛獪), ma sói (魔獪)
Volapük: lükantropan, lupamen, menalupan
Walloon: leu-waerou (wa), waerleu (wa)
Welsh: bleidd-ddyn
Yiddish: וואָלקעלאַק‎ m (volkelak)