Wolfhound
/ˈwʊlf.haʊnd/noun
A dog bred for hunting or tracking wolves.
Did you know?Unlike words with occult origins, wolfhound is a plain Old English compound—but it preserves one of the oldest Germanic animal names, showing how language can weaponize a creature’s identity into a role.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*wĺ̥kʷos
“wolf”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*wulfaz
“wolf”
Old English
OE
wulf
“wolf”
Old English
OE
hund
“dog, hound”
Modern English
English
wolfhound
“a dog bred to hunt wolves”