cupiditas

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Latin

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From cupidus (desiring) +‎ -tās (ty).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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cupiditās f (genitive cupiditātis); third declension

  1. desire (deemed good, neutral or bad)
  2. lust, passion
    • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 1.2:
      Is, M. Messālā et M. Pupio Pīsōne cōnsulibus, rēgnī cupiditāte inductus coniūrātiōnem nōbilitātis fēcit, et cīvitātī persuāsit ut dē fīnibus suīs cum omnibus cōpiīs exīrent: perfacile esse, cum virtūte omnibus praestārent, tōtīus Galliae imperiō potīrī.
      He, with Marcus Messala and Marcus Piso being consuls, incited by a lust for power, formed a conspiracy amongst the nobility, and persuaded the people to come forth from their lands with all of their possessions, [saying] that it would be very easy, as they were all distinguished in valor, to acquire the supremacy over all of Gaul.
    • 55 BCE, Cicero, De Oratore 1.43:
      coercere omnes cupiditates
      to control all of one's lusts
  3. cupidity, avarice, greed, covetousness

Usage notes

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According to scholars such as Döderlein, the difference between cupīdō and cupiditās is that cupīdō is seen as active desire, whereas cupiditās is more of a passive desire of passion that befalls someone as a state of mind. Cupīdō concerns especially possessions and money. Cupiditas is used as desire for goods of any kind.

Declension

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Third-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative cupiditās cupiditātēs
Genitive cupiditātis cupiditātum
Dative cupiditātī cupiditātibus
Accusative cupiditātem cupiditātēs
Ablative cupiditāte cupiditātibus
Vocative cupiditās cupiditātēs
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Descendants

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References

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Further reading

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  • cupiditas”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • cupiditas in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • to be consumed by the fires of ambition: gloriae, laudis cupiditate incensum esse, flagrare
    • to kindle ambition in some one's mind: aliquem cupiditate honorum inflammare (or aliquem ad cupiditatem honorum inflammare)
    • love of truth: veri videndi, investigandi cupiditas
    • to be fired with desire of a thing: cupiditate alicuius rei accensum, inflammatum esse
    • to have an ardent longing for a thing: cupiditate alicuius rei ardere, flagrare
    • to rouse a person's interest, cupidity: cupiditatem alicuius accendere
    • to rouse a person's interest, cupidity: aliquem ad cupiditatem incitare
    • to rouse a person's interest, cupidity: aliquem cupiditate inflammare
    • to be blinded by passions: cupiditatibus occaecari (Fin. 1. 10. 33)
    • to be the slave of one's desires: cupiditatibus servire, pārēre
    • to overcome one's passions: imperare cupiditatibus
    • to overcome one's passions: coercere, cohibere, continere, domitas habere cupiditates
    • to bridle one's desires: refrenare cupiditates, libidines
    • unrestrained, unbridled lust: effrenatae cupiditates
    • unrestrained, unbridled lust: indomitae animi cupiditates
    • to satisfy one's desires: cupiditates explere, satiare
    • the passions have cooled down: cupiditates deferbuerunt (Cael. 18. 43)