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Were (river)
''Were'' and ''wer'' are archaic terms for adult male humans and were often used for alliteration with wife as "were and wife" in Germanic-speaking cultures ( ang, wer, odt, wer, got, waír, ofs, wer, osx, wer, goh, wer, non, verr). In Anglo-Saxon law ''wer'' was the value of a man's life. He could be required to pay his ''wer'' to the king as a penalty for crime. If he was murdered then his relatives were entitled to his wergild as compensation from the murderer. Etymology and usage The word has cognates in various other languages, for example, the words ' (as in virility) and ' (plural ' as in Fir Bolg) are the Latin and Gaelic for a male human. While this prefix may not be derived from the above word,Concise OED, entry "werewolf" in folklore and fantasy fiction, ''were-'' is often used as a prefix applied to an animal name to indicate a type of therianthropic figure or shapeshifter (''e.g.'' "were-boar"). Hyphenation used to be mandatory, but is now commonly dro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaism
In language, an archaism (from the grc, ἀρχαϊκός, ''archaïkós'', 'old-fashioned, antiquated', ultimately , ''archaîos'', 'from the beginning, ancient') is a word, a sense of a word, or a style of speech or writing that belongs to a historical epoch long beyond living memory, but that has survived in a few practical settings or affairs. Lexical archaisms are single archaic words or expressions used regularly in an affair (e.g. religion or law) or freely; literary archaism is the survival of archaic language in a traditional literary text such as a nursery rhyme or the deliberate use of a style characteristic of an earlier age—for example, in his 1960 novel '' The Sot-Weed Factor'', John Barth writes in an 18th-century style. Archaic words or expressions may have distinctive emotional connotations—some can be humorous (''forsooth''), some highly formal (''What say you?''), and some solemn (''With thee do I plight my troth''). A distinction between archaic and ob ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shapeshifting
In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells or having inherited the ability. The idea of shape-shifting is in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest existent literature and epic poems such as the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' and the ''Iliad''. The concept remains a common literary device in modern fantasy, children's literature and popular culture. Folklore and mythology Popular shape-shifting creatures in folklore are werewolves and vampires (mostly of European, Canadian, and Native American/early American origin), ichchadhari naag and ichchadhari naagin (shape-shifting cobras) of India, the huli jing of East Asia (including the Japanese '' kitsune'' and Korean ''kumiho''), and the gods, goddesses, and demons and demonesses like succubus and incubus and other numerous mythol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Therianthropy
Therianthropy is the mythological ability of human beings to metamorphose into animals or hybrids by means of shapeshifting. It is possible that cave drawings found at Les Trois Frères, in France, depict ancient beliefs in the concept. The best-known form of therianthropy, called lycanthropy, is found in stories of werewolves. Etymology The term ''therianthropy'' comes from the Greek ''thēríon'' ηρίον meaning "wild animal" or "beast" (implicitly mammalian), and ''anthrōpos'' νθρωπος meaning "human being". It was used to refer to animal transformation folklore of Europe as early as 1901. Sometimes the term "zoanthropy" is used instead. Therianthropy was used to describe spiritual beliefs in animal transformation in a 1915 Japanese publication, ''A History of the Japanese People from the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era''. One source, ''The Human Predator'', raises the possibility the term may have been used as early as the 16th century in crimin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skin-walker
In Navajo culture, a skin-walker ( nv, yee naaldlooshii) is a type of harmful witch who has the ability to turn into, possess, or disguise themselves as an animal. The term is never used for healers. Background In the Navajo language, ' translates to "by means of it, it goes on all fours".Wall, Leon and William Morgan, ''Navajo–English Dictionary''. Hippocrene Books, New York, 1998. . While perhaps the most common variety seen in horror fiction by non-Navajo people, the ' is one of several varieties of skin-walkers in Navajo culture; specifically, they are a type of '. Navajo witches, including skin-walkers, represent the antithesis of Navajo cultural values. While community healers and cultural workers are known as medicine men and women, or by other positive, nurturing terms in the local, indigenous language, witches are seen as evil, performing twisted ceremonies and manipulating magic in a perversion of the good works medicine people traditionally perform. In order to pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mannaz
*Mannaz is the conventional name of the ''m''-rune of the Elder Futhark. It is derived from the reconstructed Common Germanic word for "man", ''*mannaz''. Younger Futhark ᛘ is maðr ("man"). It took up the shape of the algiz rune ᛉ, replacing Elder Futhark . As its sound value and form in the Elder Futhark indicate, it is derived from the letter M () in the Old Italic alphabets, ultimately from the Greek letter Mu (Μ). Rune poems The rune is recorded in all three rune poems, in the Norwegian and Icelandic poems as ''maðr'', and in the Anglo-Saxon poem as ''man''. Modern usage For the "man" rune of the Armanen Futharkh as "life rune" in Germanic mysticism, see ''Lebensrune Algiz (also Elhaz) is the name conventionally given to the "''z''-rune" of the Elder Futhark runic alphabet. Its transliteration is ''z'', understood as a phoneme of the Proto-Germanic language, the terminal ''*z'' continuing Proto-Indo-Europ ...''. References See also {{runes Runes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lycanthropy (other)
Lycanthropy is the mythological ability or power of a human being to undergo transformation into an animal like state, such as a werewolf. Lycanthropy may also refer to: * Clinical lycanthropy, the delusional belief that a person can transform into a wolf or other animal * ''Lycanthropy'' (album), a 2003 album by Patrick Wolf * "Lycanthropy," a song by Six Feet Under from ''Haunted Haunted or The Haunted may refer to: Books * ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004 * ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...'' * "Lycanthropy", a song by Fear Before from '' The Always Open Mouth'' See also * Lycanthrope (other) {{Disambiguation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cynanthropy
Cynanthropy (sometimes spelled ''kynanthropy''; from grc, κύων/, 'dog' + /, 'man; human') is, in psychiatry, the pathological delusion of real persons that they are dogs and in anthropology and folklore, the supposed magical practice of shape-shifting alternately between dog and human form, or the possession of combined canine and human anatomical features, a form of therianthropy. The Greeks spoke of cynanthropy (''kyon'', dog). The term existed by at least 1901, when it was applied to myths from China about humans turning into dogs, dogs becoming people, and sexual relations between humans and canines. After lycanthropy, cynanthropy is the best known term for a specific variety of therianthropy. Anthropologist David Gordon White called Central Asia the "vortex of cynanthropy" because races of dog-men were habitually placed there by ancient writers. Hindu mythology puts races of "Dog Cookers" to the far north of India, the Chinese placed the "Dog Jung" and other human/canine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Man (word)
The term ''man'' (from Proto-Germanic ''*mann-'' "person") and words derived from it can designate any or even all of the human race regardless of their sex or age. In traditional usage, ''man'' (without an article) itself refers to the species or to humanity (mankind) as a whole. The Germanic word developed into Old English ''mann''. In Old English, the word still primarily meant "person" or "human," and was used for men, women, and children alike. The sense "adult male" was very rare, at least in the written language. That meaning is not recorded at all until about the year 1000, over a hundred years after the writings of Alfred the Great and perhaps nearly three centuries after ''Beowulf.'' Male and female gender qualifiers were used with in compound words. Adopting the term for humans in general to refer to men is a common development of Romance and Germanic languages, but is not found in most other European languages (Slavic ''čelověkъ'' vs. ''mǫžь'', Greek ἄ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Common False Etymologies Of English Words
:''This incomplete list is not intended to be exhaustive.'' This is a list of common contemporary false etymologies for English words. Profanity *Crap: The word "crap" did not originate as a back-formation of British plumber Thomas Crapper's surname, nor does his name originate from the word "crap", although the surname may have helped popularize the word. The surname "Crapper" is a variant of "Cropper", which originally referred to someone who harvested crops. The word "crap" ultimately comes from Medieval Latin ''crappa'', meaning "chaff". *Fuck: The word "fuck" did not originate as an acronym of "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge", either as a sign posted above adulterers in the stocks, or as a criminal charge against members of the British Armed Forces; nor did it originate during the 15th-century Battle of Agincourt as a corruption of "pluck yew" (an idiom falsely attributed to the English for drawing a longbow). The word did not originate in Christianized Anglo-Saxon England a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly understood, comprise wild subspecies. The wolf is the largest extant member of the family Canidae. It is also distinguished from other '' Canis'' species by its less pointed ears and muzzle, as well as a shorter torso and a longer tail. The wolf is nonetheless related closely enough to smaller ''Canis'' species, such as the coyote and the golden jackal, to produce fertile hybrids with them. The banded fur of a wolf is usually mottled white, brown, gray, and black, although subspecies in the arctic region may be nearly all white. Of all members of the genus ''Canis'', the wolf is most specialized for cooperative game hunting as demonstrated by its physical adaptations to tackling large prey, its more social nature, and its highly adv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Werewolf
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction (often a bite or the occasional scratch from another werewolf) with the transformations occurring on the night of a full moon. Early sources for belief in this ability or affliction, called lycanthropy (), are Petronius (27–66) and Gervase of Tilbury (1150–1228). The werewolf is a widespread concept in European folklore, existing in many variants, which are related by a common development of a Christian interpretation of underlying European folklore developed during the medieval period. From the early modern period, werewolf beliefs also spread to the New World with colonialism. Belief in werewolves developed in parallel to the belief in witches, in the course of the Late Middle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Back-formation
In etymology, back-formation is the process or result of creating a new word via inflection, typically by removing or substituting actual or supposed affixes from a lexical item, in a way that expands the number of lexemes associated with the corresponding root word.Crystal, David. ''A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, Sixth Edition'', Blackwell Publishers, 2008. The resulting is called a ''back-formation'', a term coined by James Murray in 1889. ('' Oxford English Dictionary Online'' preserves its first use of 'back-formation' from 1889 in the definition of ''to burgle''; from ''burglar''.) For example, the noun ''resurrection'' was borrowed from Latin, and the verb ''resurrect'' was then back-formed hundreds of years later from it by removing the ''-ion'' suffix. This segmentation of ''resurrection'' into ''resurrect'' + ''ion'' was possible because English had examples of Latin words in the form of verb and verb+''-ion'' pairs, such as ''opine/opinion''. These becam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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