avid

Etymology

It is borrowed from French avide or directly borrowed from Latin avidus (“longing eagerly, desirous, greedy”),^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} from aveō (“to long for, crave”).^[2][3][8][6] The French word is recorded from 1470.^[9] Barnhart thinks it more likely a back-formation in English from avidity, borrowed in 1449, or perhaps from the obsolete avidous, formed about 1542;^[9] Etymonline also takes it as partly a back-formation from avidity.^[3] The Latin verb is related to avārus (“greedy”), the source of avarice,^[9][3][10] and is probably cognate with Welsh ewyllys (“will”),^[9] from Proto-Indo-European *aw- (“to desire, favour”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ardently desirous, extremely eager, greedy: 1769, in F. Brooke's The History of Emily Montague.^[2][9][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The word came into English late, in the 18th century, while avidity had been in use since the 15th.^[11][9] Its first sense was eager to the point of greed, and it was usually followed by of or for.^[2][6] Dictionary.com notes that the Latin verb covered many degrees of desire, from eagerness to hunger and lust, but that the sense of physical craving is very rare in English; the word is used mostly as a stronger synonym of eager.^[11] The milder modern sense, keen and enthusiastic, as in an avid reader, is the one Collins and Merriam-Webster now give first or illustrate most.^[12][6] The adverb avidly is recorded from the mid-19th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 1449 – avidity, borrowed from Middle French.^[9]
• 1470 – French avide.^[9]
• c. 1542 – avidous (now obsolete).^[9]
• 1769 – avid, eagerly desirous, greedy.^[2][9][6][3]
• mid 19th century – avidly.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Very keen and enthusiastic; eager in pursuing an interest: an avid birdwatcher.^[12][6]
2. Strongly desirous, to the point of greed; often followed by for or of: avid for applause.^[12][6][2]

Word family

• avidly
• avidness
• avidity

Related words

• avarice
• audacious

Usage notes

Avid, eager and keen all mean strongly desirous: avid suggests a desire close to greed and hard to satisfy, eager a strong and impatient but not overwhelming one, and keen an alert, lively zest.^[11]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins