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Cupidity

 - 3 dictionary results

cu⋅pid⋅i⋅ty

  [kyoo-pid-i-tee]
Use Cupidity in a Sentence
–noun
eager or excessive desire, esp. to possess something; greed; avarice.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME cupidite (< MF) < L cupiditās, equiv. to cupid(us) eager, desirous (cup(ere) to desire + -idus -id 4 ) + -itās -ity

Related forms:
cu⋅pid⋅i⋅nous  [kyoo-pid-n-uhs] , adjective

Synonyms:
covetousness, avidity, hunger, acquisitiveness.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cu·pid·i·ty   (kyōō-pĭd'ĭ-tē)   
n.  Excessive desire, especially for wealth; covetousness or avarice.

[Middle English cupidite, from Old French, from Latin cupiditās, from cupidus, desiring, from cupere, to desire.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

cupidity 
1436, from Anglo-Fr. cupidite, from M.Fr. cupidité, from L. cupiditas "passionate desire," from cupidus "eager, passionate," from cupere "to desire" (perhaps cognate with Skt. kupyati "bubbles up, becomes agitated," O.Slav. kypeti "to boil," Lith. kupeti "to boil over"). The Latin n. form cupido was personified as the Roman god of love, Cupido, identified with Gk. Eros; but in Eng. cupidity originally, and still especially, means "desire for wealth."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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