avarice

English

WOTD – 14 April 2006

Etymology

From Middle English avarice, from Old French, from Latin avāritia, from avārus (“greedy”).

Pronunciation

• (non-merged vowel) IPA^(key): /ˈævəɹɪs/
• (merged vowel) IPA^(key): /ˈævəɹəs/, /ˈævɹəs/^[1]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ævəɹəs

Noun

avarice (usually uncountable, plural avarices)

1. Excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greed for wealth

   Synonyms: covetousness, cupidity

2. Inordinate desire for some supposed good.

Synonyms

• avariciousness
• See also Thesaurus:greed

Related terms

• avaricious, avariciously

Translations

excessive or inordinate desire of gain

Arabic: طَمَع (ar) (ṭamaʕ)، شُحُّ m (šuḥḥu) Bulgarian: користолю́бие (bg) n (koristoljúbie) Catalan: avarícia (ca) f, cobdícia f Chinese: Mandarin: 貪婪／贪婪 (zh) (tānlán), 貪心／贪心 (zh) (tānxīn), 貪財／贪财 (zh) (tāncái) (lust for wealth) Czech: chamtivost (cs) f, lakomství n, hrabivost (cs) f Danish: please add this translation if you can Dutch: hebberigheid (nl) f, hebzucht (nl) m or f, inhaligheid (nl) Esperanto: avaro (eo) Estonian: ahnus (et), saamahimu Farefare: be'ero, pʋyã'anɛ Faroese: gírni n Finnish: ahneus (fi), rahanhimo (fi) French: avarice (fr) Georgian: სიხარბე (sixarbe), გაუმაძღრობა (gaumaʒɣroba), სიძუნწე (siʒunc̣e), ხელმოჭერილობა (xelmoč̣eriloba) German: Gier (de) f Gothic: 𐌱𐌹𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍉𐌽𐍃 f (bifaihōns) Greek: πλεονεξία (el) f (pleonexía) Ancient: πλεονεξία f (pleonexía) Ido: avareso (io) Irish: saint (ga) f, cíocras m, gabhálacht f Italian: avarizia (it), cupidigia (it) f Japanese: 強欲 (ja) (ごうよく, gōyoku) Khmer: (please verify) សេចក្ដីកំណាញ់ (səckdəy kɑmnañ) Korean: 탐욕(貪慾) (tamyok) Latin: avāritia f, avāritiēs f Malayalam: അത്യാർത്തി (ml) (atyāṟtti) Old English: ġitsung (ang) f Persian: زیاده‌خواهی (ziâde-xâhi), طمع (fa) (tama'), الچخت (fa) (alčaxt) Plautdietsch: Jiez m Polish: chciwość (pl) f Portuguese: avarícia (pt), avareza (pt) Romanian: avariție (ro) f Russian: а́лчность (ru) f (álčnostʹ), жа́дность (ru) f (žádnostʹ), ску́пость (ru) f (skúpostʹ) Scottish Gaelic: sannt m Slovak: lakomstvo n Spanish: avaricia (es) f, codicia (es) f Swedish: girighet (sv) Tocharian B: maune Turkish: açgözlülük (tr) Yiddish: please add this translation if you can

inordinate desire for some supposed good

Bulgarian: лакоми́я (bg) f (lakomíja), ненаси́тност (bg) f (nenasítnost) Catalan: avarícia (ca) f, cobdícia f, avidesa f Chinese: Mandarin: 貪財／贪财 (zh) (tāncái), 贪求 (zh) (tānqiú) Danish: please add this translation if you can Finnish: ahneus (fi), himo (fi) Italian: avidità (it) f Polish: chciwość (pl) f Portuguese: avareza (pt) f Romanian: aviditate (ro) f Russian: ненасы́тность (ru) f (nenasýtnostʹ), прожо́рливость (ru) f (prožórlivostʹ) Turkish: para hırsı, servet tutkusu

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Swedish: (please verify) girighet (sv), (please verify) snålhet (sv)

References

1. “avarice”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• caviare

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French avarice, borrowed from Latin avaritia. Cognate with Italian avarizia, Portuguese avareza, Spanish avaricia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.va.ʁis/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -is

Noun

avarice f (plural avarices)

1. greed; avarice

Related terms

• avare
• avarement
• avaricieux

Further reading

• “avarice”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin avaritia.

Noun

avarice oblique singular, f (oblique plural avarices, nominative singular avarice, nominative plural avarices)

1. greed; avarice

Descendants

• → English: avarice
• French: avarice