cupiditas

Latin

Alternative forms

*cupidietās, *cupiditia (Vulgar Latin)

Etymology

From cupidus (“desiring”) +‎ -tās (“ty”).

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /kuˈpi.di.taːs/, [kʊˈpɪd̪ɪt̪äːs̠]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /kuˈpi.di.tas/, [kuˈpiːd̪it̪äs]

Noun

cupiditās f (genitive cupiditātis); third declension

desire (deemed good, neutral or bad)
lust, passion
- 55 BCE, Cicero, De Oratore 1.43:
  coercere omnes cupiditates
  to control all of one's lusts
cupidity, avarice, greed, covetousness

Usage notes

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

Third-declension noun.

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

Related terms

cupīdō

Descendants

Old French: cobetad
Old Occitan: cobeitat
→ English: cupidity
→ French: cupidité
→ Italian: cupidità
⇒ Vulgar Latin: *cupidietās
- Old French: coveitié
⇒ Vulgar Latin: *cupidĭtia
- → Catalan: cobdícia
- Old Catalan: cobesa, cobeea, cobea, cobeesa
- Old Occitan: cobezeza
  - Gascon: cobedessa
  - Languedocien: cobesiá
  - Provençal: cobesiá
  - Vivaro-Alpine: cobesiá, cobesia
- Old Portuguese: cobiiça
  - Galician: cobiza
  - Portuguese: cobiça
- → Old Spanish: cubdicia
  - Spanish: codicia

References

Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “cupiditas”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 2: C Q K, pages 1551–1552