Phrase guide

wolf child

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A German street child, typically an orphan, who lived in East Prussia at the end of World War II.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: little German

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Calque of German Wolfskind and Lithuanian vilko vaikas. First attested in the 1990s.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Abkhaz: абгахәыҷы (abgaxwəčʼə) — human child raised by wolves
  • German: Wolfskind — human child raised by wolves
  • Polish: wilcze dziecko — human child raised by wolves
  • Portuguese: criança-lobo — human child raised by wolves
  • Russian: волчий ребёнок (volčij rebjónok) — human child raised by wolves