Today's Word "lycanthropy "
Published in Vocabulary
lycanthropy \lI-KAEN-therh-pi\ (noun) - The supposed power of certain human beings to convert themselves into wolves; the belief in such power; the delusion that one has become a wolf. In other words, today's word is the scientific term for "werewolf."
"Convinced he was infected with lycanthropy, Lawrence's behavior became increasingly odd as he requested he be chained and caged during the period of the full moon."
Based on Greek lykanthropos "wolf-man," comprising lykos "wolf" + anthropos "man." The root underlying "lykos" was *wlkwo-, with a vocalic [l], that also devolved into English "wolf," interestingly enough, also found in the colloquial term, "werewolf." The "were" in this word comes from *wiro- "man", found in Latin vir "man," the root of "virile." The word "world" originally was wer-ald "man-age," based on the same root. In the Slavic languages, *wlkwo- became "v'lk-," now "volk" in Russian, "vlk" in Czech, and "vuk" in Serbian. Latin lupus "wolf" is probably also related, perhaps a taboo variant.
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