Were"wolf` (?), n.; pl. Werewolves (#). [AS. werwulf; wer a man + wulf a wolf; cf. G. warwolf, wahrwolf, wehrwolf, a werewolf, MHG. werwolf. . 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.
© Webster 1913.