lycanthropy
[lahy-kan-thruh-pee]
- a delusion in which one imagines oneself to be a wolf or other wild animal.
- the supposed or fabled assumption of the appearance of a wolf by a human being.
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Origin of lycanthropy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for lycanthropic
Historical Examples
The tanoana seems to be the soul of which lycanthropic feats are asserted.
Lycanthropic criminals were also brought up who had prowled about and devastated the sheepfolds.
The Superstitions of WitchcraftHoward Williams
lycanthropy
- the supposed magical transformation of a person into a wolf
- psychiatry a delusion in which a person believes that he is a wolf
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Word Origin
C16: from Greek lukānthropía, from lukos wolf + anthrōpos man
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for lycanthropic
lycanthropy
n.
1580s, a form of madness (described by ancient writers) in which the afflicted thought he was a wolf, from Greek lykanthropia, from lykanthropos "wolf-man," from lykos "wolf" (see wolf (n.)) + anthropos "man" (see anthropo-). Originally a form of madness (described by ancient writers) in which the afflicted thought he was a wolf; applied to actual transformations of persons (especially witches) into wolves since 1830 (see werewolf).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
lycanthropy
(lī-kăn′thrə-pē)- The delusion that one is a wolf.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.