Where does “were-creature” come from?
were-creature (English) comes from English were, from English werewolf, from Middle English werwolf, from Old English werewulf, from Old English wer, from Proto-Germanic wer, from Proto-Germanic wēraz, from Proto-Indo-European wiHrós — to chase, pursue; to suppress, persecute.
Ancestry of “were-creature”, step by step
were-creature traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English were
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | were | second-person singular simple past indicative of... |
| 2 | English | werewolf | A person who is transformed or can transform into... |
| 3 | Middle English | werwolf | — |
| 4 | Old English | werewulf | werewolf |
| 5 | Old English | wer | man; husband; hero, warrior |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | wer | — |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | wēraz | true; reliable; friendly; kind |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | wiHrós | man; husband; warrior, hero |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | weyh₁- | to chase, pursue; to suppress, persecute |
via English creature
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | creature | A living being; an animal; A human; A created... |
| 2 | English | create | To bring into existence |
| 3 | Middle English | createn | To make, invent, or create; To grant or bestow a... |
| 4 | Latin | creātus | created, having been created, made, having been made, produced, having been produced |
| 5 | Latin | creō | to create, to give existence to, to form, to make, to produce, to originate out of other materials or out of nihility (transitively) |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱer- | to grow, to make grow, to nourish; to plait,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥- | to turn, to bend |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ker- | army |