Etymologically
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avarus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [aˈwaː.rʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈvaː.rus][1]

Forms

avārus (feminine avāra, neuter avārum, comparative avārior, superlative avārissimus, adverb avārē or avāriter); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is a derivative of aveō “to be eager, desire”, though the exact formation is unclear: the only other adjective in -ārus is amārus “bitter”.[2][3][1] De Vaan derives aveō from Proto-Italic *awē- (“to be eager”), Proto-Indo-European *h₂eu-eh₁- (“to enjoy, consume”).[2] Gellius already connected it with aveō.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Naevius first.[5] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.[5] Terence has a greedy pimp.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant greedy for money or gain, avaricious and rapacious, and also miserly or stingy.[3] In poetry it described things greedy or hungry for something, as Virgil's greedy Acheron, and Horace has laudis avārus “greedy for praise”.[3][6] A grammarian quoted by Lewis and Short distinguishes avārus, always a term of blame, from avidus.[4] As a noun it was a miser.[1]

In medieval British Latin it kept the sense avaricious.[7] It survives in Italian avaro and French avare.[1] Its noun avāritia gave English avarice about 1300.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses the word.[5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus says no one will be so stingy as not to set him free.[3][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil speaks of greedy Acheron.[3][5]
  • c. 1300 – English avarice is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Greedy for money, avaricious, rapacious.[3]
  2. miserly, stingy.[3]
  3. (poetic) Greedy, hungry (for).[3]

Noun

  1. A miser.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com