Covet

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈkʌvɪt/

Definitions

1. To desire something intensely, especially something that belongs to another person or is considered desirable by others
2. To yearn for something with strong desire, particularly an object or quality belonging to someone else or widely regarded as valuable
3. To wish intensely to possess something, especially what another person owns or what society deems highly desirable

Etymology: Covet arrived in Middle English from Old French "covoitier," the modern French "convoiter," and its root is usually traced to Latin "cupiditas," meaning desire or greed. That Latin noun is also the source of English "cupidity," though "covet" came in by a different route, through French rather than directly from Latin. The French verb's own ancestor, "covoitié," is thought to have been shaped from the Latin word, so the two words share a common origin while looking quite different on the page. The link is worth noticing because "cupidity" and "covet" now sound like distant cousins, yet both carry the same core idea of wanting what is not yours. In English, "covet" kept the sense of desire with an edge of resentment or wrongful longing, which is why it appears so often in moral contexts, such as the commandment against coveting a neighbour's goods.

Synonyms: desire, crave, long for

Antonyms: disdain, reject