Word of the Day Archive
Monday February 13, 2006
concupiscence \kon-KYOO-puh-suhn(t)s; kuhn-\ , noun:
Strong desire, especially sexual desire; lust.
The "Tretis" is an argument in favor of chastity and contrasts the "Wise Virgins" who devote themselves to God with the "Foolish Virgins" who taste "the fruits of forbidden concupiscence" and, of course, pay for it.
-- Michael Gorra, "Loved for his Diphthongs", New York Times, November 27, 1983
Within three years Rorik's queen was dead, taking with her into silence her midnight cries of release from that captivity of concupiscence which Eve's curious sin has laid upon mankind.
-- John Updike, Gertrude and Claudius
Concupiscence is from Late Latin concupiscentia, from the present participle of Latin concupiscere, "to desire eagerly," from com-, intensive prefix + cupere, "to desire." The adjective form is concupiscent. The name of the ancient Roman god of love, Cupid, comes from the same root.
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for concupiscence
