vampire

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈvæm.paɪ.ə(ɹ)/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

borrowed from French vampire or borrowed from German Vampir,^[2][3][4] which first appeared in German in 1732 in an account of Hungarian vampires.^[3] The German word came from Slavic, possibly through Hungarian vampir;^[3][1] Merriam-Webster and Random House name Serbo-Croatian vampir as the source.^[5][6] Random House explains the Serbo-Croatian form as an altered version of earlier upir, related to Czech upír, Polish upiór and Russian upýr’.^[6] Barnhart and Etymonline trace these to Old Church Slavonic ǫpirĭ.^[4][3]

Beyond Slavic the origin is disputed.^[3][1] The Slavic linguist Franz Miklosich proposed Kazan Tatar ubyr “witch”, but Max Vasmer found that unlikely on phonetic grounds.^[3] Random House suggests instead a native Slavic compound with a root meaning “fly, rush”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A corpse believed to leave its grave at night and suck the blood of sleeping people.^[7][4][3] Etymonline dates the English word to 1732, in newspaper reports from Hungary of “certain dead Bodies (call'd there Vampyres)” that had killed several people by sucking their blood.^[3][5] The OED and Barnhart give 1734.^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

Within a decade the word was used of people who prey ruthlessly on others, such as extortioners (1741).^[7][4] It was given to blood-sucking bats of South America in the 1770s.^[7][4] It is also used of a seductive woman who ruins the men she exploits, the same sense as vamp.^[5][6][1]

Timeline

• 1732 – German Vampir and English vampyre, in reports from Hungary.^[3][5]
• 1734 – first quotation in the OED.^[7][4]
• 1741 – “person who preys on others”.^[7][4]
• 1774 – a blood-sucking bat.^[7][4]
• 1881 – a trapdoor used for sudden disappearances on stage.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. In folklore, a dead person who rises from the grave at night to suck the blood of the living.
2. A person who preys on or exploits others.
3. A vampire bat.
4. A woman who seduces and exploits men.

Word family

• vampiric
• vampirish
• vampirism
• vampire bat

Related words

• vamp
• dhampir
• ghoul

References

1. [1] [2] [3] [4] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. [1] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. [1] [2] [3] [4] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. [1] [2] [3] [4] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press