Word of the Day Archive
Saturday July 10, 1999
avarice \AV-uh-ris\ , noun:
An excessive desire of gain; greediness after wealth; covetousness; cupidity.
To desire money for its own sake, and in order to hoard it up, is avarice.
-- Beattie.
In the words of Augustine, a propertyless society was possible only in Paradise, because it demanded perfection-the kind of perfection that since the Fall was beyond the reach of most of humanity. Furthermore, possessions were ethically neutral and became evil only if they gave rise to avarice.
-- Richard Pipes, Property and Freedom
Government is not a game, nor should it be a casino empowered to declare itself a monopoly so it can make a profit by stimulating public avarice.
-- William Safire, "Lotteries Are Losers", New York Times, June 21, 1999
To me avarice seems not so much a vice, as a deplorable piece of madness.
-- Sir Thomas Browne, Religio Medici
Ultimately from Latin avarus, greedy.
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for avarice
