Editing Werewolf (section)

== Names ==
The [[Modern English]] ''werewolf'' descends from the [[Old English]] ''wer(e)wulf'', which is a [[cognate]] of [[Middle Dutch]] ''weerwolf'', [[Middle Low German]] ''warwulf'', ''werwulf'', [[Middle High German]] ''werwolf'', and [[West Frisian language|West Frisian]] ''waer-ûl(e)''.<ref>[https://gtb.ivdnt.org/iWDB/search?actie=article&wdb=MNW&id=71840&lemmodern=weerwolf Lemma: Weerwolf], ''Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal'' (in Dutch)</ref> These terms are generally derived from a [[Proto-Germanic]] form [[Linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]] as ''*wira-wulfaz'' ('man-wolf'), itself from an earlier [[Germanic parent language|Pre-Germanic]] form *''wiro-wulpos''.{{sfn|Orel|2003|p=463}}<ref name="OED">{{Harvnb|Oxford English Dictionary|2021}}, s.v. ''werewolf, n.''</ref>{{sfn|Koch|2020|p=96}} An alternative reconstruction, *''wazi-wulfaz'' ('wolf-clothed'), would bring the Germanic [[Compound (linguistics)|compound]] closer to the Slavic meaning,{{sfn|Orel|2003|p=463}} with other semantic parallels in [[Old Norse]] ''úlfheðnar'' ('wolf-skinned') and ''úlfheðinn'' ('wolf-coat'), [[Old Irish]] ''luchthonn'' ('wolf-skin'), and [[Sanskrit]] ''Vṛkājina'' ('Wolf-skin').{{Sfn|West|2007|p=450}}

The Norse branch underwent [[Word taboo|taboo modifications]], with Old Norse ''vargúlfr'' (only attested as a translation of [[Old French]] ''garwaf'' ~ ''garwal(f)'' from [[Lais of Marie de France|Marie's lay]] of [[Bisclavret]]) replacing *''wiraz'' ('man') with ''vargr'' ('wolf, outlaw'), perhaps under the influence of the Old French expression ''leus warous ~ lous garous'' (modern ''loup-garou''), which literally means 'wolf-werewolf'.{{sfn|de Vries|1962|p=646}}<ref name="DEAF">[[Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français|DEAF]] G:334–338.</ref> The modern Norse form ''varulv'' (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish) was either borrowed from Middle Low German ''werwulf'',<ref name="DEAF" /> or else derived from an unattested Old Norse ''*varulfr'', posited as the regular descendant of Proto-Germanic *''wira-wulfaz''.<ref name="OED" /> An [[Old Frankish]] form ''*werwolf'' is inferred from the Middle Low German variant and was most likely borrowed into [[Old Norman]] ''garwa(l)f'' ~ ''garo(u)l'', with regular [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]–[[Romance languages|Romance]] correspondence ''w-'' / ''g-'' (cf. ''William'' / ''Guillaume'', ''Wales'' / ''Galles'', etc.).<ref name="DEAF" /><ref>[[Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch|FEW]] 17:569.</ref>

The [[Proto-Slavic]] noun *''vьlko-dlakь'', meaning "wolf-haired" (cf. *''dlaka'', "animal hair", "fur"),{{sfn|Orel|2003|p=463}} can be reconstructed from Serbian ''vukòdlak'', [[Slovenian language|Slovenian]] ''vołkodlȃk'', and Czech ''vlkodlak'', although formal variations in [[Slavic languages]] (*''vьrdl(j)ak'', *''vьlkdolk'', *''vьlklak'') and the late attestation of some forms pose difficulties in tracing the origin of the term.{{sfn|Nichols|1987|p=170}}{{sfn|Butler|2005|pp=237–238}} The [[Greek language|Greek]] ''[[Vrykolakas]]'' and [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''Vîrcolac'', designating vampire-like creatures in Balkan folklores, were borrowed from Slavic languages.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Balinisteanu|first=Tudor|date=2016|title=Romanian Folklore and Literary Representations of Vampires|journal=[[Folklore (journal)|Folklore]]|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|location=Oxford, England|volume=127|issue=2|pages=150–172|doi=10.1080/0015587X.2016.1155358|s2cid=148481574 |issn=0015-587X}}</ref><ref name="Zochios">{{Cite journal |last=Zochios |first=Stamatis |date=2018 |title=Interprétation ethnolinguistique de termes mythologiques néohelléniques d'origine slave désignant des morts malfaisants |journal=Revue des études slaves |volume=89 |issue=3 |pages=303–317 |doi=10.4000/res.1787 |s2cid=192528255 |issn=0080-2557|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The same form is found in other non-Slavic languages of the region, such as Albanian ''vurvolak'' and Turkish ''vurkolak.<ref name="Zochios" />'' [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] ''vьrkolak'' and [[Church Slavonic]] ''vurkolak'' may be interpreted as back-borrowings from Greek.{{sfn|Butler|2005|pp=237–238}} The name ''[[Wurdulac|vurdalak]]'' (вурдалак; 'ghoul, revenant') first appeared in Russian poet [[Alexander Pushkin]]'s work ''Pesni'', published in 1835. The source of Pushkin's distinctive form remains debated in scholarship.{{sfn|Butler|2005|p=242}}<ref name="Zochios" />

A [[Proto-Celtic]] noun *''wiro-kū'', meaning 'man-dog', has been reconstructed from [[Celtiberian language|Celtiberian]] ''uiroku'', the [[Old Brittonic]] place-name ''[[Viroconium Cornoviorum|Viroconium]]'' (< *''wiroconion'', 'place of man-dogs, i.e. werewolves'), the [[Old Irish]] noun ''ferchu'' ('male dog, fierce dog'), and the medieval personal names ''Guurci'' ([[Old Welsh]]) and ''Gurki'' ([[Old Breton]]). Wolves were metaphorically designated as 'dogs' in Celtic cultures.{{sfn|Delamarre|2007|pp=30–31}}{{sfn|Koch|2020|p=96}}

The modern term ''lycanthropy'' comes from [[Ancient Greek]] ''lukanthrōpía'' (λυκανθρωπία), itself from ''lukánthrōpos'' (λυκάνθρωπος), meaning 'wolf-man'. Ancient writers used the term solely in the context of [[clinical lycanthropy]], a condition in which the patient imagined himself to be a wolf. Modern writers later used ''lycanthrope'' as a synonym of ''werewolf'', referring to a person who, according to medieval superstition, could assume the form of wolves.<ref name="OED2">{{Harvnb|Oxford English Dictionary|2021}}, s.v. ''lyncanthropy, n.'' and ''lyncanthrope, n.''</ref>