rapacity

C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /rəˈpæsɪti/ UK /rəˈpæsɪti/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
aggressive greed or grasping acquisitiveness

The financier's rapacity left whole towns stripped of their savings.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · aggressive greed or... greed avarice cupidity voracity covetousnessrapaciousness

Opposites

generosity

Word family

Related forms rapacious rapine rape

Etymology

From Latin rapacitas, from rapax (stem rapac-) ('grasping, greedy'), from rapere ('to seize, snatch').

rapacitas Latin rapere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas Word Formation & Derivatives

# rapacity

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** rəˈpæsɪti
**IPA (UK):** rəˈpæsɪti

## Meanings
1. aggressive greed or grasping acquisitiveness

## Examples
- The financier's rapacity left whole towns stripped of their savings.

## Synonyms
- greed
- avarice
- cupidity
- voracity
- covetousness
- rapaciousness

## Antonyms
- generosity

## Related Forms
- rapacious
- rapine
- rape

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: rapacitas
- Root: rapere

## Etymology
From Latin rapacitas, from rapax (stem rapac-) ('grasping, greedy'), from rapere ('to seize, snatch').

## AI Etymology
Rapacity comes from Latin rapacitas, from rapax (stem rapac-) ('grasping, greedy'), from rapere ('to seize, snatch'). The historical chain includes Latin rapacitas and Latin rapere. Older glosses in the chain include "grasping, greedy" and "to seize, snatch", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, rapacity is best read as borrowing, yielding an English noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun, with the sense "aggressive greed or grasping acquisitiveness". related forms include rapacious, rapine, and rape. The result is an English noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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rapacity

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