A creature from folklore and fiction that is a human that transforms into a wolf-like beast, usually during a full moon.
From Old English wer meaning 'man' and wolf, literally 'man-wolf.' The 'were-' prefix comes from ancient Germanic traditions and appears in werewolf, werwolf across different languages, all describing the same shape-shifting concept.
The werewolf myth might come from real people with hypertrichosis (excessive hair growth) or porphyria (a rare genetic disease), who in medieval times were misunderstood and feared as cursed—folklore often has roots in medical conditions that people didn't understand.
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