werewolf

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

From Middle English werwolf, from Old English werwulf, from Proto-West Germanic *werawulf, from Proto-West Germanic *wer (“man”) +‎ *wulf (“wolf”). By surface analysis, 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.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwɛːwʊlf/, /ˈwɪəwʊlf/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈwɛəɹwʊlf/, /ˈwɪəɹwʊlf/, /ˈwɜɹwʊlf/

werewolf (plural werewolves)

1. (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: lycanthrope, man-wolf, wolfman

   Hypernym: turnskin

   Hyponyms: (female werewolf) werewolfess, werewoman, wolfwoman

   Near-synonym: dogman

• werewolf on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Werewolf, werwolf”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes X, Part 2 (V–Z), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 319.