"wolf" meaning in Middle English

See wolf in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /wulf/ Forms: wolves [plural], wolfy [diminutive], wolfie [diminutive], wulf [alternative], woulf [alternative], wolfe [alternative]
Etymology: From Old English wulf, from Proto-West Germanic *wulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos. Etymology templates: {{inh|enm|ang|wulf}} Old English wulf, {{inh|enm|gmw-pro|*wulf}} Proto-West Germanic *wulf, {{inh|enm|gem-pro|*wulfaz}} Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, {{inh|enm|ine-pro|*wĺ̥kʷos}} Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos Head templates: {{head|enm|noun|plural|wolves|diminutive|wolfy, wolfie}} wolf (plural wolves, diminutive wolfy, wolfie)
  1. (countable) wolf (Canis lupus; the largest wild member of the canine subfamily) Tags: countable Categories (lifeform): Wolves
    Sense id: en-wolf-enm-noun-qjtn9lqG Disambiguation of Wolves: 80 20 Categories (other): Middle English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of Middle English entries with incorrect language header: 81 19
  2. (figurative) terrifying person Tags: figuratively
    Sense id: en-wolf-enm-noun-YYOXie-x

Alternative forms

{
  "descendants": [
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "en",
            "2": "wolf"
          },
          "expansion": "English: wolf, wolve (rare)\n→ Ido: volfo (also from German)",
          "name": "desctree"
        }
      ],
      "text": "English: wolf, wolve (rare)\n→ Ido: volfo (also from German)"
    },
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "sco",
            "2": "wolf",
            "3": "woulf",
            "4": "wouff"
          },
          "expansion": "Scots: wolf, woulf, wouff",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "Scots: wolf, woulf, wouff"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "wulf"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English wulf",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*wulf"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *wulf",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*wulfaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *wulfaz",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*wĺ̥kʷos"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Old English wulf, from Proto-West Germanic *wulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "wolves",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wolfy",
      "tags": [
        "diminutive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wolfie",
      "tags": [
        "diminutive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wulf",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "woulf",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wolfe",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "noun",
        "3": "plural",
        "4": "wolves",
        "5": "diminutive",
        "6": "wolfy, wolfie"
      },
      "expansion": "wolf (plural wolves, diminutive wolfy, wolfie)",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "81 19",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "80 20",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Wolves",
          "orig": "enm:Wolves",
          "parents": [
            "Canids",
            "Carnivores",
            "Mammals",
            "Vertebrates",
            "Chordates",
            "Animals",
            "Lifeforms",
            "All topics",
            "Life",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "wolf (Canis lupus; the largest wild member of the canine subfamily)"
      ],
      "id": "en-wolf-enm-noun-qjtn9lqG",
      "links": [
        [
          "wolf",
          "wolf#English:_Q18498"
        ],
        [
          "Canis lupus",
          "Canis lupus#Translingual"
        ],
        [
          "canine",
          "Caninae"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) wolf (Canis lupus; the largest wild member of the canine subfamily)"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "terrifying person"
      ],
      "id": "en-wolf-enm-noun-YYOXie-x",
      "links": [
        [
          "terrifying",
          "terrifying"
        ],
        [
          "person",
          "person"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) terrifying person"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/wulf/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "wolf"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English lemmas",
    "Middle English nouns",
    "Middle English terms derived from Old English",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Old English",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Pages with 11 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "enm:Wolves"
  ],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "en",
            "2": "wolf"
          },
          "expansion": "English: wolf, wolve (rare)\n→ Ido: volfo (also from German)",
          "name": "desctree"
        }
      ],
      "text": "English: wolf, wolve (rare)\n→ Ido: volfo (also from German)"
    },
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "sco",
            "2": "wolf",
            "3": "woulf",
            "4": "wouff"
          },
          "expansion": "Scots: wolf, woulf, wouff",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "Scots: wolf, woulf, wouff"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "wulf"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English wulf",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*wulf"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *wulf",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*wulfaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *wulfaz",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*wĺ̥kʷos"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Old English wulf, from Proto-West Germanic *wulf, from Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "wolves",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wolfy",
      "tags": [
        "diminutive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wolfie",
      "tags": [
        "diminutive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wulf",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "woulf",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wolfe",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "noun",
        "3": "plural",
        "4": "wolves",
        "5": "diminutive",
        "6": "wolfy, wolfie"
      },
      "expansion": "wolf (plural wolves, diminutive wolfy, wolfie)",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Middle English countable nouns"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "wolf (Canis lupus; the largest wild member of the canine subfamily)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "wolf",
          "wolf#English:_Q18498"
        ],
        [
          "Canis lupus",
          "Canis lupus#Translingual"
        ],
        [
          "canine",
          "Caninae"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) wolf (Canis lupus; the largest wild member of the canine subfamily)"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "terrifying person"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "terrifying",
          "terrifying"
        ],
        [
          "person",
          "person"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) terrifying person"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/wulf/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "wolf"
}

Download raw JSONL data for wolf meaning in Middle English (2.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Middle English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-18 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-02 using wiktextract (f2d86ce and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.