Meanings
werewolf1
plural werewolves · alternative obsolete warwolf · alternative archaic wehrwolf · alternative rare were wolf · alternative were-wolf · alternative dated werwolf
Werewolf2
- Synonym of Mafia (“a social deduction party game”).
Synonyms: Mafia
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person who is transformed or can transform into a wolf or a wolflike human, often said to do so during a full moon.
proper nounSynonym of Mafia (“a social deduction party game”).
More synonyms by meaning
nouna monster able to change appearance from human to wolf and back again
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-West Germanic*werawulf
- Old Englishwerewulf
- Middle Englishwerwolf
- Englishwerewolf
From Middle English werwolf, from Old English werewulf, from Proto-West Germanic *werawulf, from Proto-West Germanic *wer (“man”) + *wulf (“wolf”). Cognate with Dutch weerwolf, Low German Warwulf, German Werwolf, Danish varulv, Swedish varulv, and even possibly Finnish vironsusi. By surface analysis, were- + wolf. * Compare French garou in loup-garou; French dialectal gairou, varou (“werewolf”); Medieval Latin gerulphus, garulphus (“werewolf”); all from Germanic, probably Frankish *werawulf.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans weerwolf
- weerwolfwolflike human
Ancient Greek λυκάνθρωπος
- λυκάνθρωπος (lukánthrōpos)wolflike human
Arabic مُسْتَذْئِب, مُسْتَذْئِبَة
- مُسْتَذْئِب (mustaḏʔib)wolflike human
- مُسْتَذْئِبَة (mustaḏʔiba)wolflike human
Bulgarian въркола́к
- въркола́к (vărkolák)wolflike human
Catalan home llop, licantrop
- home llopwolflike human
- licantropwolflike human
Chinese Cantonese 狼人
- 狼人wolflike human
Chinese Mandarin 狼人
- 狼人 (lángrén)wolflike human
Czech vlkodlak
- vlkodlakwolflike human
Danish varulv
- varulvwolflike human
Dutch weerwolf
- weerwolfwolflike human
Esperanto lupfantomo, homlupo
- lupfantomowolflike human
- homlupowolflike human
- luphomowolflike human
- likantropowolflike human
Estonian libahunt
- libahuntwolflike human
Finnish ihmissusi, vironsusi
- ihmissusiwolflike human
- vironsusiwolflike human
French loup-garou, garou
- loup-garouwolflike human
- garouwolflike human
- lycanthropewolflike human
German Werwolf, Werwölfin
- Werwolfwolflike human
- Werwölfinwolflike human
- Mannwolfwolflike human
- Lykanthropwolflike human
- Lykanthropinwolflike human
Greek λυκάνθρωπος
- λυκάνθρωπος (lykánthropos)wolflike human
Hebrew אָדָם זְאֵב, אַנְשֵׁי זְאֵב
- אָדָם זְאֵב (adám zeév)wolflike human
- אַנְשֵׁי זְאֵב (anshéi zeév)wolflike human
Hindi भेड़ियामानव, भड़मानस
- भेड़ियामानव (bheṛiyāmānav)wolflike human
- भड़मानस (bhaṛmānas)wolflike human
- वेरवुल्फ़ (vervulf)wolflike human
- वृकमानव (vŕkmānav)wolflike human
Hungarian farkasember, vérfarkas
- farkasemberwolflike human
- vérfarkaswolflike human
Icelandic varúlfur
- varúlfurwolflike human
Indonesian manusia serigala
- manusia serigalawolflike human
Irish conriocht, fearolc
- conriochtwolflike human
- fearolcwolflike human
Italian licantropo, lupo mannaro
- licantropowolflike human
- lupo mannarowolflike human
- uomo-lupowolflike human
Japanese 狼男, 人狼
- 狼男 (ōkamiotoko)wolflike human
- 人狼 (jinrō)wolflike human
- 狼人 (rōjin)wolflike human
- 狼人間 (ōkaminingen)wolflike human
Korean 늑대인간
- 늑대인간 (neukdaein'gan)wolflike human
Latin versipellis, lycanthropus
- versipelliswolflike human
- lycanthropuswolflike human
- lupinotuumwolflike human
- virlupuswolflike human
Latvian vilkacis, vilkatis
- vilkaciswolflike human
- vilkatiswolflike human
- vilkatekswolflike human
- kadarswolflike human
Lithuanian vilktakas, vilkolakis
- vilktakaswolflike human
- vilkolakiswolflike human
Malay serigala jadian, likantrop
- serigala jadianwolflike human
- likantropwolflike human
Norwegian Bokmål varulv
- varulvwolflike human
Persian گرگینه
- گرگینه (gorgine)wolflike human
Polish wilkołak, likantrop
- wilkołakwolflike human
- likantropwolflike human
Portuguese lobisomem, licantropo
- lobisomemwolflike human
- licantropowolflike human
- lobanilwolflike human
Romanian vârcolac
- vârcolacwolflike human
Russian волкола́к, волкула́к
- волкола́к (volkolák)wolflike human
- волкула́к (volkulák)wolflike human
- волкодла́к (volkodlák)wolflike human
- верво́льф (vervólʹf)wolflike human
- верву́льф (vervúlʹf)wolflike human
- о́боротень (óborotenʹ)wolflike human
- ликантро́п (likantróp)wolflike human
- верво́лк (vervólk)wolflike human
Scottish Gaelic fear-faol, fearolc
- fear-faolwolflike human
- fearolcwolflike human
Slovak vlkolak
- vlkolakwolflike human
Spanish hombre lobo, licántropo
- hombre lobowolflike human
- licántropowolflike human
- lobisónwolflike human
- lobisomewolflike human
Swahili nusumbwa, mtu-mbwa
- nusumbwawolflike human
- mtu-mbwawolflike human
Swedish varulv
- varulvwolflike human
Thai มนุษย์หมาป่า
- มนุษย์หมาป่า (má-nút-mǎa-bpàa)wolflike human
Turkish kurt adam, erbörü
- kurt adamwolflike human
- erbörüwolflike human
Ukrainian вовкула́ка, пере́вертень
- вовкула́ка (vovkuláka)wolflike human
- пере́вертень (perévertenʹ)wolflike human
- вовкула́к (vovkulák)wolflike human
- вовку́н (vovkún)wolflike human
Vietnamese người sói, ma sói
- người sóiwolflike human
- ma sóiwolflike human
Welsh bleidd-ddyn
- bleidd-ddynwolflike human
Yiddish וואָלקעלאַק
- וואָלקעלאַק (volkelak)wolflike human
Cite this entry
werewolf. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/werewolf
“werewolf.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/werewolf. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “werewolf,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/werewolf.
Source: werewolf on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.