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avidus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word avidus

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Ennius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*h₂ew-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈa.wɪ.dʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.vi.dus][1]

Forms

avidus (feminine avida, neuter avidum, comparative avidior, superlative avidissimus, adverb avidē or aviditer); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from aveō “to long for” with the suffix -idus.[2][1][3] Aveō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- (“to favour, desire”).[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Ennius, and the OLD cites him for the sense “eager”.[4][2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant greedy for gain, covetous, as in Plautus, greedy for food or drink, of animals, jaws and plants, and of things voracious, insatiable, as Lucretius' fire.[2] It meant eager, ardent, as in Ennius, and eagerly desirous of something, as Cicero's glōriae avidior “more eager for glory” and Sallust's eagerness for war, and in Horace lustful.[2][5] Lewis and Short say it can be used of lawful or unlawful desires, unlike avārus “greedy for money”.[3]

It survives in Italian avido and Spanish ávido.[1] English avid came through French in 1769.[6] The verb audeō “to dare” was formed from it.[7]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of eagerness.[2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of greed for gain.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of eagerness for glory.[5][4]
  • 1769 – English avid is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Greedy for gain, covetous.[2]
  2. Greedy (for food or drink).[2]
  3. Voracious, insatiable.[2]
  4. Eager, ardent, avid.[2]
  5. Desirous (of).[2]
  6. Lustful.[2]

Word family

References

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

“Avidus.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/avidus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·