Other forms: vampires
A vampire is an undead creature of folklore that drinks the blood of the living. It sleeps by day, casts no reflection, and is turned back by garlic and daylight, depending on which version you are reading.
Most of what English speakers know about vampires comes from Dracula rather than from folklore, and the rules vary enormously between traditions. There are two real-world uses: the vampire bat is a genuine South American animal that does drink blood, and vampire in figurative use means somebody who drains other people — an energy vampire. A vampire device is one that draws power while switched off, which is a good use of the word and a recent one.
1nounvampireAn undead creature of folklore that drinks blood.
“The vampire cannot enter unless invited.”
2nounbatA bat that feeds on blood.
“Vampire bats feed mostly on cattle.”
3noundrainsSomebody who drains other people's energy or money.
“He is a complete energy vampire in a meeting.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
vampire is a creature of folklore.
The word came into English from Serbian and the wider Slavic vampir, and it entered western Europe in the eighteenth century along with reports of grave-openings in the Habsburg borderlands. Behind the Slavic word may lie a Turkic one meaning a witch or evil spirit — the trail runs east and goes cold.
Proto-Turkic
*ōpur — glutton, witch, evil spirit
Proto-Slavic
*ǫpyrь
Serbo-Croatian
vàmpīr//ва̀мпӣр
German
Vampir
French
vampire
English, today
vampire
From French vampire, from German Vampir, via Hungarian from a sla word, probably Serbo-Croatian vàmpīr//ва̀мпӣр, from Proto-Slavic ǫpyrь, further possibly from Proto-Turkic ōpur (“glutton, witch, evil spirit”), or from native construction. a doublet of dhampir and oupire.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA