# 이리 - wolf?



## cgeau

Hello, 

I was wondering about the meaning of the word 이리. I came across it in the context of the constellation 이리자리. Does it mean "wolf"? And if so, does it differ in meaning from 늑대?

Thank you for your help!


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## mangwaterk

Well, you are almost right, but 이리 and 늑대 are slightly different.

'이리' usually means grey wolf.
So 이리 is one kind of a 늑대.(As you probably know, 늑대 means 'wolf')


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## cgeau

Thank you so much for your helpful explanation!


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## Rance

In modern Korean, 이리 and 늑대 are almost completely interchangeable. (And 늑대 is more popular term)
But 이리 is the word that has been used since the old days and 늑대 is rather a newly added word in modern days.
As evidence, there is Chinese character which corresponds to 이리(이리 랑 狼) and there is even for 승냥이 (승냥이 시 豺), but not for 늑대.
There is a theory that the word 늑대 originates from 勒大 or 勒犬 which was used by Japanese to refer to Korean  wolves(which is a subspecies of gray wolves).
So if above theory were to be correct, then 늑대 is actually a kind of 이리, not the other way around.
Regardless, they are practically synonyms in modern Korean.


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