werewolf

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“
Scares: The film doesn't toy with the idea of mystery about who the werewolf is and thus leaves behind some chances for scares.

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Definitions (4)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A person believed to have been transformed into a wolf or to be capable of assuming the form of a wolf.
  2. Word History
    The wolf in werewolf is current English; the were is not. Werewulf, "werewolf,” occurs only once in Old English, about the year 1000, in the laws of King Canute: "lest the madly ravenous werewolf too savagely tear or devour too much from a godly flock.” The wer- or were- in wer(e)wulf means "man”; it is related to Latin vir with the same meaning, the source of virile and virility. Both the Germanic and the Latin words derive from Indo-European *wīro-, "man.” Wer- also appears, though much disguised, in the word world. World is first recorded (written wiaralde) in Old English in a charter dated 832; the form worold occurs in Beowulf. The Old English forms come from Germanic *wer-ald-, "were-eld” or "man-age.” The transfer of meaning from the age of humans to the place where they live has a parallel in the Latin word saeculum, "age, generation, lifetime,” later "world.”

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Examples (50)

  • Antonia-the-werewolf was a high octane bitch when she was in a good mood. —  MaryJanice Davidson - Betsy 07 - Undead and Unworthy
  • Mercy's more independent than that and has managed to keep her distance and her own space Until a runaway shows up at her garage, looking for work, who also happens to be a new werewolf--a danger to both himself and those around him. —  FSF, July 2006
  • As D'Roye aimed a slash at the werewolf, the Ensign raised his own sword, stepping in to strike. —  F ;SF; - vol 100 issue 05 - May 2001
  • Although I must object to the use of the word werewolf. —  F ;SF; - vol 091 issue 03 - September 1996
  • They are a werewolf, a vampire, and a unicorn, and they mean you no harm. —  Cube Route
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Etymologies (1)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old English werewulf : wer, man; see wī-ro- in Indo-European roots + wulf, wolf; see wolf.
 

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/ˈwərˈ, wirwʊlf/
by American Heritage

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