wolf's head

noun

In mediaeval times, an outlaw; one who may be slain without judicial enquiry.

OriginLatin caput lupinum →
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Meanings

nounwolf's head (plural wolf's heads)

plural wolf's heads

  1. UKobsoletelawIn mediaeval times, an outlaw; one who may be slain without judicial enquiry.

    “Bonny times,” he said, “I have lived to see, when a lad of Earl Oslac’s blood is sent out of the land, a beggar and a wolf’s head, for playing a boy’s trick or two, and upsetting a shaveling priest.”.

    1866, Charles Kingsley, Hereward the Wake, London: Nelson, page 48

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
outlaw

Origin

  1. Latincaput lupinum
  2. Englishwolf's head

Calque of Latin caput lupinum.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

wolf's head. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wolf's%20head

MLA

“wolf's head.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wolf's%20head. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wolf's head,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wolf's%20head.

Source: wolf's head on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.