Vampire

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈvæm.paɪ.É™(ɹ)/

Alternative forms

• archaic vampyre

Origin

From French vampire, from German Vampir, from a Slavic word, probably Serbo-Croatian vàmpīr (said to be an alteration of a term *upir).

Merriam Webster Online

Dictionary.com

Some sources speculate that the Serbo-Croatian word derives from Macedonian.

Leposava Spirovska, Tanas Vražinovski. Les vampires dans les croyances et legendes Macedoniennes (Skopje, 1988), page 8

Compare Russian упырь, Polish upiór, etc.

Full definition of vampire

Noun

1. A mythological undead creature said to feed on the blood of the living. from earlier 18th c.
2. (colloquial) A person with the medical condition Systemic lupus erythematosus, colloquially known as vampirism, with effects such as photosensitivity, brownish-red stained teeth, and increased night vision.
3. A blood-sucking bat; vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) from later 18th c.

Synonyms

• (mythological creature) nosferatu, lamia, cadaver sanguine
• (bat) vampire bat
• (blood drinker) hemovore, hematophagous

Derived terms

• vampire bat
• vampiress
• vampiric
• vampirism

Related terms

• vamp

Anagrams

• vampier