The now extinct British wolves are known to have reached similar sizes to Arctic wolves. Males weigh between 25 and 35 kg (55 and 77 lb) and rarely 45 kg (99 lb). In Italian wolves, excepting the tail, body lengths range from 110 to 148 cm, while shoulder height is 50–70 cm. One wolf killed in Romania was recorded to have weighed 72 kg (159 lb). : 174 Although similar in size to central Russian wolves, Swedish and Norwegian wolves tend to be more heavily built with deeper shoulders. Larger weights of 92–96 kg (203–212 lb) have been reported in Ukraine, though the circumstances under which these latter animals were weighed are not known. The largest on record was killed after World War II in the Kobelyakski Area of the Poltavskij Region in the Ukrainian SSR, and weighed 86 kg (190 lb). The size of Eurasian wolves is subject to geographic variation, with animals in Russia and Scandinavia being larger than those residing in Western Europe, having been compared by Theodore Roosevelt to the large wolves of north-western Montana and Washington. The shorter ears, broader forehead, and thicker muzzle of the American Wolf, with the bushiness of the hair behind the cheek, give it a physiognomy more like the social visage of an Esquimaux dog than the sneaking aspect of a European Wolf. Its loins are more slender, its legs longer, feet narrower, and its tail is more thinly clothed with fur. Its ears are higher and somewhat nearer to each other their length exceeds the distance between the auditory opening and the eye. The European wolf's head is narrower, and tapers gradually to form the nose, which is produced on the same plane with the forehead.

In describing North American wolves, John Richardson used European wolves as a basis for comparison, summarising the differences between the two forms as: Other prey species include reindeer, argali, mouflon, wisent, saiga, ibex, chamois, wild goats, fallow deer, and musk deer. Many Eurasian wolf populations are forced to subsist largely on livestock and garbage in areas with dense human activity, though wild ungulates such as moose, red deer, roe deer and wild boar are still the most important food sources in Russia and the more mountainous regions of Eastern Europe. The two are, however, mutually intelligible, as North American wolves have been recorded to respond to European-style howls made by biologists. The howl of the Eurasian wolf is much more protracted and melodious than that of North American grey wolf subspecies, whose howls are louder and have a stronger emphasis on the first syllable. Melanists, albinos, and erythrists are rare, and mostly the result of wolf-dog hybridisation. Its fur is relatively short and coarse, and is generally of a tawny colour, with white on the throat that barely extends to the cheeks. It is the largest of Old World grey wolves, averaging 39 kg (86 lb) in Europe however, exceptionally large individuals have weighed 69–79 kg (152–174 lb), though this varies according to region. It was held in high regard in Baltic, Celtic, Slavic, Turkic, ancient Greek, Roman, and Thracian cultures, whilst having an ambivalent reputation in early Germanic cultures. Aside from an extensive paleontological record, Indo-European languages typically have several words for 'wolf', thus attesting to the animal's abundance and cultural significance.

It was once widespread throughout Eurasia prior to the Middle Ages. The Eurasian wolf ( Canis lupus lupus), also known as the common wolf, is a subspecies of grey wolf native to Europe and Asia.

Giant timber wolf