LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininethird declension

aviditās

aviditās f (genitive aviditātis)
Classical[aˈwɪ.dɪ.taːs]Ecclesiastical[aˈviː.di.tas]

Meaning

  1. An eagerness for something, avidity, longing, desire; covetousness, greed, avarice; gluttony, hunger
    […] habeōque senectūtī magnam grātiam, quae mihi sermōnis aviditātem auxit, pōtiōnis et cibī sustulit.And I have such gratitude for old age, for it has increased my eagerness for conversation, while taking away [my hunger] for food and drink.106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Cato Maior de Senectute 14.46
    Est ille plūs quam capit, et ingentī aviditāte onerat distentum ventrem ac dēsuētum iam ventris officiō, ut maiōre opera omnia ēgerat quam ingessit.He is [eating] more than he can hold, and with insatiable gluttony he overstuffs his distended gut — in fact already beyond the regular business of a belly — so that he will be expelling it all with more effort than [when] he packed it in.c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca Minor, Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium 47.2

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeaviditāsaviditātēs
genitiveaviditātisaviditātum
dativeaviditātīaviditātibus
accusativeaviditātemaviditātēs
ablativeaviditāteaviditātibus
vocativeaviditāsaviditātēs

ăvĭdĭtas, ātis, f. avidus,
I. an eagerness for something (either lawful or unlawful), avidity, longing, vehement desire.
I. In gen.: habeo senectuti magnam gratiam, quae mihi sermonis aviditatem auxit, potionis et cibi sustulit, Cic. Sen. 14, 46: aviditas legendi, id. Fin. 3, 2, 7: suscipere verbum cum omni aviditate, Vulg. Act. 17, 11: gloriae, Cic. ad Q. Fr. 1, 1, 16: pecuniae, id. Part. Or. 6, 1: rapiendi per occasionem triumphi, Liv. 31, 48, 2: imperandi, Tac. H. 1, 52: vini, Suet. Tib. 42 al.: ad cibos, Plin. 20, 16, 65, § 173.—In plur.: bestiolarum aviditates, Plin. 11, 6, 5, § 15: feminarum, id. 20, 21, 84, § 227.—
II. Esp.
A. Eagerness for money, covetousness, avarice: Inhaeret etiam aviditas, desidia, injuria, etc., Plaut. Merc. prol. 29: (justitia) eas res spernit et neglegit, ad quas plerique inflammati aviditate rapiuntur, Cic. Off. 2, 11, 38: utrumque incredibile est, et Roscium quicquam per aviditatem appetīsse et Fannium quicquam per bonitatem amisisse, id. Rosc. Com. 7, 21 (B. and K., avaritiam).—
B. Eagerness in eating, appetite: lactuca in cibis aviditatem incitat inhibetque eadem, Plin. 20, 7, 26, § 64; so, aviditatem excitare, id. 23, 1, 7, § 12: facere, id. 23, 8, 75, § 144; Vulg. Eccli. 37, 33.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew-eh₁yeti
  3. Latinaviditās

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der. Proto-Italic *-iðos Latin -idus Latin avidus Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Latin aviditās From avidus (“greedy, covetous; eager”) + -tās.

Descendants
  • Englishavidity
  • Frenchavidité
  • Italianavidità
  • Romanianaviditate

In English words that came into English from aviditās

  • avidityaviditās

Quick answers

What does aviditās mean in Latin?
aviditās, a noun, means “An eagerness for something, avidity, longing, desire; covetousness, greed, avarice; gluttony, hunger”.
What is the genitive of aviditās?
The genitive singular is aviditātis. aviditās is feminine, third declension.
How do you pronounce aviditās?
In classical Latin, [aˈwɪ.dɪ.taːs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [aˈviː.di.tas].
Where does aviditās come from?
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- → Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew-eh₁yeti → Latin aviditās.