avariter

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [aˈwaː.rɪ.tɛr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈvaː.ri.ter]^[1]

Forms

avāriter (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin avārus (“greedy”) + -ter, an adverb.^[2][1] ⟨avārus⟩ is from aveō (“to long for”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *awē- (“to be eager”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew-eh₁- (“to enjoy, consume”).^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest source is Plautus' Curculio, avāriter ingurgitāre “to gulp down greedily”.^[4][5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

An early word, it meant greedily, rapaciously, gluttonously, as in Plautus and Cato, and stingily, as in Claudius Quadrigarius.^[2][5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[5][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Greedily, gluttonously.^[2]
2. Stingily.^[2]

Related words

• audeō
• avāre
• avāritia
• avāritiēs
• avārus
• avēns
• aventer
• aveō
• avidē
• aviditās

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.