# werewolf

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈwɛːwʊlf/ · frequency rank #18,995

## Definitions
1. A person who is transformed or can transform into a wolf or a wolflike human, often said to do so during a full moon.

## Etymology
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.

## Common misspellings (12)
`ewrewolf`, `weerwolf`, `wereowlf`, `werewlof`, `werewofl`, `werewolff`, `werewollf`, `werewwolf`, `werrewolf`, `werweolf`, `wreewolf`, `wwerewolf`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/werewolf