Word of the Day

: November 21, 2010

werewolf

noun WAIR-woolf

What It Means

: a person transformed into a wolf or capable of assuming a wolf's form

werewolf in Context

She is particularly interested in folklore about vampires and werewolves. "American paranormal fans will soon have a new werewolf, vampire and ghost in their lives as SyFy preps for the U.S. installment of Being Human, as seen on BBC America." - From an article by MacKenzie Wilson posted November 4, 2010 at www.bbcamerica.com.

Did You Know?

Though some doubts about the word’s etymology still remain, "werewolf" probably comes from a prehistoric West Germanic compound whose constituent parts gave Old English "wer" ("man") and "wulf" ("wolf"). The word is related to Middle Dutch "weerwulf" and Old High German "werwolf." Another word for "werewolf" is "lycanthrope," which traces back through Latin to a Greek combination of "lyk-" (from "lykos," meaning "wolf") and "anthropos" (meaning "man"). English also sometimes makes use of the French-derived word "loup-garou," from Old French "leu" ("wolf") and "garoul" or "garulf" (a word of Germanic origin meaning "werewolf").