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Harpy

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Har⋅py

  [hahr-pee]
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–noun, plural -pies.
1. Classical Mythology. a ravenous, filthy monster having a woman's head and a bird's body.
2. (lowercase) a scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman; shrew.
3. (lowercase) a greedy, predatory person.
Origin:
< L Harpȳia, sing. of Harpȳiae < Gk Hárpȳiai (pl.), lit., snatchers, akin to harpázein to snatch away

Related forms:
harp⋅y⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Har·py   (här'pē)   
n.   pl. Har·pies

  1. Greek Mythology One of several loathsome, voracious monsters with the head and trunk of a woman and the tail, wings, and talons of a bird.

  2. harpy A predatory person.

  3. harpy A shrewish woman.

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

harpy 
c.1375, from Gk. Harpyia (pl.), lit. "snatchers," probably related to harpazein "to snatch" (see rapid). In Homer, personification of whirlwinds and hurricanes; in Hesiod called sisters of Aello and Iris; later represented as ministers of divine vengeance: winged, clawed monsters with female heads and bodies. Metaphoric extension to "greedy person" is c.1400.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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