avarice

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English avarice,^[1][2][3] borrowed from Old French avarice (“greed, covetousness”),^[1][4][5][2] from Latin avāritia (“greed”),^[1][4][5][2] from avārus (“greedy”),^[1][4][5][6] from avēre (“to crave, long for”) (see avid),^{[1][4][5][2][7]} from Proto-Italic *awē- (“to be eager”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Inordinate desire to gain and hoard wealth (before 1300 in the OED; about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline), as one of the seven deadly sins.^[8][4][5][3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English it covered greed both in acquiring and in withholding goods, unwillingness to give.^[3] By about 1386 it was also used figuratively of any eager desire to get or keep something for oneself.^[8] The adjective avaricious dates from about 1390.^[4] Weekley attributes the phrase beyond the dreams of avarice to Dr Johnson, speaking of the potential of a brewery.^[9]

Timeline

• before 1300 – greed for wealth.^[8][4]
• c. 1386 – figuratively, any eager desire to get or keep.^[8]
• c. 1390 – avaricious.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Immoderate or insatiable desire for wealth or gain; greed, cupidity.

Related words

• avaricious
• avid
• cupidity
• greed
• covetousness

References

1. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray