werewolf

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈwɛːwʊlf/, /ˈwɪəwʊlf/ (UK); /ˈwɛəɹwʊlf/, /ˈwɪəɹwʊlf/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

inherited from Middle English werwolf, inherited from Old English werewulf,^[2][3][4][5] from Old English wer (“man”) + wulf (“wolf”).^{[3][4][5][6][2]} Old English wer is cognate with Latin vir and Gothic wair “man”.^[6][5] Similar compounds are Middle Dutch weerwolf, Old High German werwolf and Swedish varulf.^[2][5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who was changed, or could change himself, into a wolf, in a text from about 1000.^[7][5]

Semantic evolution

Belief in werewolves was widespread in the Middle Ages, and the change was sometimes thought to work through a magic girdle.^[2][7] The word became rare after the 17th century, surviving mostly in Scotland, until it was revived by folklore studies in the early 19th century.^[2] By 1873 were- was being used for other shape-shifting creatures, such as a man who turns into a bear.^[2] In 1945 the name was taken by a German underground resistance movement.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – Old English werewulf.^[7][5]
• early 19th century – revived in folklore studies.^[2]
• 1831 – werewolfism, werewolfery.^[7]
• 1873 – were- extended to other animals.^[2]
• 1945 – a German resistance movement.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. In folklore, a person who changes into a wolf, or can take a wolf's form, while keeping human intelligence.

Related words

• virile
• wolf
• lycanthropy
• world

References

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