cupidityn.
/kjuːˈpɪdɪti/ 1.
a. gen. Ardent desire, inordinate longing or lust; covetousness. Const. †of, for. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > inordinate or excessive desire > [noun]
covetingc1315
covetisec1340
covetousness1486
cupidity1547
grippleness1571
overlustiness1583
over-desire1641
voraginousness1654
gluttony1704
1547 A. Borde Breuiary of Helthe 110 Cupiditie of worldly substance or goodes.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VII f. xxxviijv That tyraunt blynded..with the cupiditie of rulynge and souereigntie.
1566 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure I. xiii. f. 34v Men, whiche be giuen to cupidite of gouernement, honor and glorie.
1648 W. Montagu Miscellanea Spiritualia xiii. §6 (R.) The serpent..thus sharpens the curiosity while he suggesteth the cupidity.
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Cupidity, concupiscence; unlawful or unreasonable longing.
1809–10 S. T. Coleridge Friend (ed. 3) III. 96 The cupidity for dissipation and sensual pleasure in all ranks.
b. (with plural) An inordinate desire or appetite. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > inordinate or excessive desire > [noun] > an inordinate desire
covetisec1340
cupidity1542
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes i. f. 85 These cupiditees by philosophie to ouercome, in a more honest and ioyly thyng.
1598 R. Barckley Disc. Felicitie of Man v. 490 Immoderate desires and cupidities.
1623 J. Wodroephe Spared Houres Souldier 216 (T.) All sorts of cupidities do hinder us to know the word of God.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison (ed. 2) VI. xxx. 185 She calls her idle flame love; a Cupidity which only was a Something she knew not what to make of.
1859 G. Bush tr. Swedenborg Doctr. & Statem. 52 This spirit has appetites, cupidities, desires, affections.
2. spec. Inordinate desire to appropriate wealth or possessions; greed of gain.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > inordinate or excessive desire > [noun] > inordinate desire of possessions
greediness1154
greedilaikc1175
yissingc1275
covetise1297
covetingc1315
winningheadc1315
concupiscencec1340
avaricec1386
greedy worm1430
cupidity1436
covetousness1526
avariciousness1560
greed1609
an itching palma1616
gripulousness1633
havingness1646
avarition1661
my-ness1662
aviditya1680
gripingness1683
ingordigiousnessa1734
graspingness1747
accumulativeness1821
acquisitiveness1826
pleonexia1858
possessiveness1864
over-greed1867
appropriativeness1882
1436 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 184 Allas, cupidité! That they that have here lyves put in drede Schal be sone oute of wynnynge, al for mede.
a1797 E. Burke Thoughts on Scarcity (1800) p. xiii No property is secure when it becomes large enough to tempt the cupidity of indigent power.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. v. i. 326 The country of the Rohillas was an object of cupidity to both.
1872 J. Yeats Growth Commerce 23 Their riches only excited the cupidity of a hardier race.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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n.1436