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Webster 1913 Edition


Werewolf

Were′wolfˊ

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Werewolves
(#)
.
[AS.
werwulf
;
wer
a man +
wulf
a wolf; cf. G.
wärwolf
,
währwolf
,
wehrwolf
, a werewolf, MHG.
werwolf
. √285. See
Were
a man, and
Wolf
, and cf.
Virile
,
World
.]
A person transformed into a wolf in form and appetite, either temporarily or permanently, whether by supernatural influences, by witchcraft, or voluntarily; a lycanthrope. Belief in werewolves, formerly general, is not now extinct.
The
werwolf
went about his prey.
William of Palerne.
The brutes that wear our form and face,
The
werewolves
of the human race.
Longfellow.