harpy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhɑːpi/ (UK); /ˈhɑɹpi/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English arpie,^[2] borrowed from Old French harpie,^[3][4] from Latin harpȳia,^[2][3][5][4] from Ancient Greek ἅρπυια (hárpuia), plural hárpuiai, literally “snatchers”,^[2][3][4] probably related to harpázein “to snatch, seize”.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A monster of Greek and Roman mythology, part woman and part bird (about 1375 in Barnhart; late 14th century in Etymonline; 1540 in the OED).^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

In Homer the harpies were personified storm winds that carried off people who had vanished; in Hesiod they were fair-haired winged maidens; and later writers made them disgusting monsters with maidens' heads, faces pale with hunger and birds' claws.^[3] The figurative sense, a rapacious or grasping person, appears about 1400,^[2][3][6] and later the word was applied to a shrewish, nagging woman.^[7][5][8] From 1838 it also names birds of prey, such as the harpy eagle.^[6][1]

Timeline

• about 1375 – the mythological monster.^[2]
• about 1400 – a rapacious person.^[2][3]
• 1572 – a figure of a harpy in heraldry.^[6]
• 1838 – the harpy eagle; the moor buzzard.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (Greek and Roman mythology) One of several loathsome, voracious monsters with a woman's head and body and a bird's wings and claws.
2. A greedy, predatory person.
3. A shrewish or bad-tempered woman.
4. Any of several large birds of prey, especially the harpy eagle.

Word family

• harpylike
• harpy eagle

Related words

• rapacious
• harpoon

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House