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I was watching the anime
[かんなぎ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kannagi%3a_Crazy_Shrine_Maidens), and
heard the following line:

> 男はみんな[狼]{おおかみ}だわ！  
>  "Men are all wolves!"

I was curious as to what it means to call someone a "wolf", so looked 狼 up in
[Daijisen](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E7%8B%BC&dtype=0&dname=0na&stype=0&pagenum=1&index=02166200)
and it came up with "someone who feigns being gentle, but in reality is a
terrifying person" in the 2nd definition.

But why exactly did 狼 come to have this connotation? Does it have similar
origins to the English phrase ["a wolf in sheep's
clothing"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wolf_in_Sheep%27s_Clothing)? Or
something else?
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words etymology
The origin of one of the usages of 狼{おおかみ}
Although Daijisen lists 狼{おおかみ}に衣{ころも} as a separate definition #3, from
searching I think that it comes from that proverb.

Looking at [this page](http://www.geocities.jp/tomomi965/ko-jien01/a17.html)
for example, it says that proverb means "an atrocious, merciless person, but
only outward appearances of dressing as (feigning) being a good, kind-hearted
person", so I think that's likely where it comes from.

* * *

Further to this, there's also the proverb
[鬼{おに}に衣{ころも}](http://www.nohmask21.com/oni/prover_j.html), which has two
meanings, one of which seems the same as that of 狼に衣, so it might be that 狼に衣
comes from 鬼に衣 (though I can't find any hard evidence which came earlier out
of the two). It comes from an 鬼 (demon) wearing priest's garb (僧衣{そうい}).
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> Does it have similar origins to the English phrase "a wolf in sheep's
> clothing"?

Yes. A better dictionary would confirm that. From 日本国語大辞典:

> 狼, 2: ( **「狼に衣」のことわざから** ) うわべはやさしくよそおっていて実は凶悪な人。特に、破戒僧の異称。

Early citations for this are from c. 1780. Early citations for 狼に衣 may be
found from 1638. Thus, the chronology is also in order.
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