Wölfin

German

Etymology

From Middle High German wülvinne, wulfinne, from Old High German *wulfinna, from Proto-West Germanic *wulfini. Equivalent to Wolf (“wolf”) +‎ -in. The modern -ö- from readaptation to the basic word. Displaced Middle High German wülpe and the hybrid form wülpinne.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvœlfɪn/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Noun

Wölfin f (genitive Wölfin, plural Wölfinnen)

1. female equivalent of Wolf: she-wolf, wolfess

   Die Wölfin von Rom ― The She-Wolf of Rome

   • 1925–26, Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf:

     Jedes Tier paart sich nur mit einem Genossen der gleichen Art. Meise geht zu Meise, Fink zu Fink, der Storch zur Störchin, Feldmaus zu Feldmaus, Hausmaus zu Hausmaus, der Wolf zur Wölfin usw.

     Every animal only mates with a partner of the same species. Chickadee goes to chickadee, finch to finch, stork to stork, field mouse to field mouse, house mouse to house mouse, wolf to she-wolf, etc.

Declension

Declension of Wölfin [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Wölfin	die	Wölfinnen
genitive	einer	der	Wölfin	der	Wölfinnen
dative	einer	der	Wölfin	den	Wölfinnen
accusative	eine	die	Wölfin	die	Wölfinnen

Further reading

• “Wölfin” in Duden online
• “Wölfin” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache