wolf-child

noun

A human child that has been raised by wolves from infancy.

Meanings

nounwolf-child (plural wolf-children)

plural wolf-children

  1. A human child that has been raised by wolves from infancy.

    Mr. Neilson also adds that a jemidar told him that when he was a lad he remembered going with others to see a wolf-child which had been netted.

    1898 January 29, Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, Philadelphia, page 121
  2. fantasyA being that is part wolf, part child.

    Odin watched the wolf-child grow with foreboding, for in his dreams the wolf had been there at the end of everything[.]

    2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 78
  3. literaryA baby or young wolf.

    Synonyms: wolf cub, wolfkin, wolfling, wolf whelp

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA baby or young wolf.

Also see

Translations

Polish ludzkie szczenię
  • ludzkie szczenięhuman child raised by wolves
Portuguese criança-lobo
  • criança-lobohuman child raised by wolves
Cite this entry
APA

wolf-child. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wolf-child

MLA

“wolf-child.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wolf-child. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wolf-child,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wolf-child.

Source: wolf-child on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.