lycanthropy

English

Alternative forms

• lycanthropia

Etymology

From Ancient Greek λυκανθρωπία (lukanthrōpía), from λυκάνθρωπος (lukánthrōpos, “wolfman”). By surface analysis, lycanthrope +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /laɪˈkanθɹəpi/

Noun

lycanthropy (usually uncountable, plural lycanthropies)

1. (mythology) The state of being a lycanthrope (or werewolf), a person who can shapeshift between the form of a human being and a wolf, often said to happen involuntarily during a full moon; werewolfdom.
2. (mythology, by extension) The state of being a person who can shapeshift between the form of a human being and an animal, whether or not it is a wolf.
   • 2014, Marijn Haverbeke, “4: Data Structures: Objects and Arrays”, in Eloquent JavaScript, 2nd Ed.: A Modern Introduction to Programming, No Starch Press, →ISBN, page 60:

     On one hand, Jacques is quite glad that he doesn’t have classic lycanthropy. Turning into a squirrel tends to cause fewer problems than turning into a wolf.

3. A delusion in which one believes oneself to be a wolf or other wild animal.

Synonyms

• (state of being a werewolf) werewolfdom, werewolfism

Related terms

• lycanthrope

Translations

act of shapeshifting

• Catalan: licantropia f
• Finnish: lykantropia
• French: lycanthropie (fr) f
• Galician: licantropía (gl)
• German: Lykanthropie (de) f
• Greek: λυκανθρωπία (el) f (lykanthropía)

  Ancient: λυκανθρωπία f (lukanthrōpía)

• Hungarian: likantrópia
• Malay: likantropi
• Polish: likantropia (pl) f
• Portuguese: licantropia (pt) f
• Russian: ликантро́пия (ru) f (likantrópija)
• Spanish: licantropía (es) f
• Turkish: likantropi
• Volapük: lükantrop

See also

• werewolf
• shapeshift

Further reading

• Lycanthropy on Wikipedia