lycanthropy

lycanthropy

English

Alternative forms

• lycanthropia

Etymology

From Ancient Greek λυκανθρωπία (lukanthrōpía), from λυκάνθρωπος (lukánthrōpos).

Pronunciation

• (us) IPA^(key): /lʌɪˈkanθɹəpi/

Noun

lycanthropy (usually uncountable, plural lycanthropies)

1. (mythology) The act of shapeshifting between the form of a human being and an animal (usually a wolf), often done during a full moon, according to legend.
   • 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.

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

Related terms

• lycanthrope

Translations

act of shapeshifting

Catalan: licantropia f Finnish: lykantropia Galician: licantropía (gl) German: Lykanthropie (de) f Greek: λυκανθρωπία (el) f (lykanthropía) Hungarian: likantrópia

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

See also

• werewolf
• shapeshift

Further reading

• Wikipedia article on Lycanthropy