Wiktionary

wolf

See also: Wolf

EnglishEdit

 
A wolf.

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English wolf, from Old English wulf, ƿulf, from Proto-West Germanic *wulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz (compare Saterland Frisian Wulf, West Frisian and Dutch wolf, German Wolf, Norwegian and Danish ulv), from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos (compare Sanskrit वृक (vṛ́ka), Persian گرگ‎ (gorg), Lithuanian vilkas, Russian волк (volk), Albanian ujk, Latin lupus, Greek λύκος (lýkos), Tocharian B walkwe). Doublet of lobo and lupus.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

wolf (plural wolves)

  1. Canis lupus; the largest wild member of the canine subfamily.
    Synonym: grey wolf
    1. Any of several related canines that resemble Canis lupus in appearance, especially those of the genus Canis.
  2. A man who makes amorous advances to many women.
  3. (music) A wolf tone or wolf note.
    The soft violin solo was marred by persistent wolves.
  4. (figurative) Any very ravenous, rapacious, or destructive person or thing; especially, want; starvation.
    They toiled hard to keep the wolf from the door.
    the bee wolf
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 85:
      “ […] Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing. Oh, dear, there's so much to tell you, so many warnings to give you, but all that must be postponed for the moment.”
  5. One of the destructive, and usually hairy, larvae of several species of beetles and grain moths.
  6. A white worm which infests granaries, the larva of Nemapogon granella, a tineid moth.
  7. A wolf spider.
  8. (obsolete) An eating ulcer or sore. See lupus.
    • 1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC:
      If God should send a cancer upon thy face, or a wolf into thy side
  9. A willying machine, to cleanse wool or willow.
    • 1872, Johann Rudolph von Wagner, A handbook of Chemical Technology:
      The loosening and purifying of the raw cotton from the various impurities , such as sand, grit, &c., is accomplished by beating with the hand, or by the Wolf machine, by means of a cylinder, the surface of which is covered with sharp iron teeth

SynonymsEdit

HypernymsEdit

HyponymsEdit

Coordinate termsEdit

Derived termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

  • → Ido: volfo (also from German)

TranslationsEdit

constellation — see Lupus

ReferencesEdit

VerbEdit

wolf (third-person singular simple present wolfs, present participle wolfing, simple past and past participle wolfed)

  1. (transitive) To devour; to gobble; to eat (something) voraciously.
    • 1987, James Ellroy, The Black Dahlia:
      After a wolfed burger dinner, I called the night number at Administrative Vice and inquired about known lesbian gathering places.
    • 2013, Neil Martin, Collected Stories of the Sea:
      Vicars seated himself and began wolfing a sandwich.
  2. (intransitive, slang) To make amorous advances to many women; to hit on women; to cruise for sex.
    • 1949, Nelson Algren, The Man with the Golden Arm:
      [1940s Chicago punk:] ‘I’ve seen a thing or two in my time,’ he still liked to boast, ‘that was how I found out the best place for wolfin’ ain’t the taverns. It ain’t in dance halls ’r on North Clark on Saturday night. It’s in the front row in Sunday school on Sunday mornin’. Oh yeh, I know a thing or two, I been around.’
  3. (intransitive) To hunt for wolves.

SynonymsEdit

TranslationsEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “wolf”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
  2. ^ Kristin Denham and Anne Lobeck, in Linguistics for Everyone: An Introduction (2009), page 136

Further readingEdit

AnagramsEdit

AfrikaansEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Dutch wolf, from Middle Dutch wolf, from Old Dutch *wulf, *wolf, from Proto-West Germanic *wulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

wolf (plural wolwe)

  1. wolf

Alemannic GermanEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle High German wolf, from Old High German wolf, from Proto-West Germanic *wulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz. Cognate with German Wolf, Dutch wolf, English wolf, Icelandic úlfur.

NounEdit

wolf m

  1. (Carcoforo, Formazza, Gressoney, Issime, Rimella and Campello Monti) wolf

ReferencesEdit

DutchEdit

 
Twee wolven in de sneeuw. — Two wolves in the snow.

EtymologyEdit

From Middle Dutch wolf, from Old Dutch *wulf, from Proto-West Germanic *wulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

wolf m (plural wolven, diminutive wolfje n, feminine wolvin)

  1. wolf, undomesticated Canis lupus
    Ze gingen de wolven bekijken in de dierentuin.
    They went to look at the wolves in the zoo.
  2. one of many other canids of the family Canidae, especially of the genus Canis
    Er bestaan verschillende soorten wolven.
    Various species of wolves exist.

HypernymsEdit

HypernymsEdit

HolonymsEdit

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

Middle DutchEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old Dutch *wulf, from Proto-West Germanic *wulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos.

NounEdit

wolf m

  1. wolf, grey wolf

InflectionEdit

Declension of wolf (strong)
Singular Plural
nominative wolf wolve
accusative wolf wolve
genitive wolfs wolve
dative wolf wolven

Derived termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

Further readingEdit

Middle EnglishEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old English wulf, from Proto-West Germanic *wulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

wolf (plural wolves, diminutive wolfy, wolfie)

  1. wolf, lupine
  2. terrifying person

DescendantsEdit

Middle High GermanEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old High German wolf, from Proto-West Germanic *wulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos.

NounEdit

wolf m

  1. wolf

DescendantsEdit

Old High GermanEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Proto-West Germanic *wulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

wolf m (plural wolfa)

  1. wolf

DeclensionEdit

Declension of wolf (masculine a-stem)
case singular plural
nominative wolf wolfa
accusative wolf wolfa
genitive wolfes wolfo
dative wolfe wolfum
instrumental wolfu —

Derived termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

West FrisianEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old Frisian wolf, from Proto-West Germanic *wulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos.

NounEdit

wolf c (plural wolven, diminutive wolfke)

  1. wolf

Further readingEdit

  • “wolf”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
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