Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “wolves” come from?

Wolves comes from Old English wulf, from Proto-West Germanic wulf, from Proto-Germanic wulfaz, from Proto-Indo-European wĺ̥kʷos, all meaning the carnivorous mammal.

wolves (English): plural of wolf; Third-person singular simple...

Definitions

  1. plural of wolf; Third-person singular simple...

Ancestry of “wolves”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishwolfThe gray wolf, specifically all subspecies of the...
2Middle Englishwolfwolf, lupine; terrifying person
3Old Englishwulfwolf
4Proto-West Germanicwulfwolf
5Proto-Germanicwulfazwolf
6Proto-Indo-Europeanwĺ̥kʷoswolf
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wĺ̥kʷos →