covet

English

Etymology

From Middle English coveten, coveiten, coveyten, from Old French covoitier (modern French convoiter), from covoitié (“desire”), presumably modified from Latin cupiditas.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʌvɪt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌvɪt

Verb

covet (third-person singular simple present covets, present participle coveting, simple past and past participle coveted)

1. (transitive) To wish for with eagerness; to desire possession of, often enviously.
   • 1991, Ted Tally, The Silence of the Lambs (motion picture), spoken by Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins):

     No! He covets. That is his nature. And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? Make an effort to answer now.

2. (transitive) To long for inordinately or unlawfully; to hanker after (something forbidden).
3. (intransitive) To yearn; to have or indulge an inordinate desire, especially for another's possession.

Derived terms

• coveting
• covetingly

Related terms

• covetable
• coveter
• covetous

Translations

to wish for with eagerness

• Arabic: طَمُعَ (ar) (ṭamuʕa), طَمِعَ (ar) (ṭamiʕa), جَشِعَ (jašiʕa)
• Azerbaijani: tamah salmaq
• Bulgarian: жадувам (bg) (žaduvam)
• Burmese: မက် (my) (mak)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 貪求／贪求 (zh) (tānqiú), 貪圖／贪图 (zh) (tāntú), 渴望 (zh) (kěwàng), 垂涎 (zh) (chuíxián)

• Danish: begære
• Dutch: begeren (nl), hunkeren (nl), verlangen (nl), smachten (nl) (naar)
• Esperanto: deziri
• Finnish: himoita (fi)
• French: convoiter (fr), désirer (fr)
• Galician: cobizar (gl), desexar (gl), devecer (gl), degorar (gl), gorar (gl), bremar
• German: begehren (de)
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gairnjan)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἐπῐθῡμέω (epithūméō)

• Hebrew: חמד (he) (chamad)
• Italian: concupire (it), bramare (it)
• Japanese: 切望する (ja) (せつぼうする, setsubō suru), 貪る (ja) (むさぼる, musaboru), 欲張る (よくばる, okubaru)
• Latin: concupio
• Malayalam: കൊതിക്കുക (ml) (kotikkuka)
• Maori: taiapo, kōhaehae, kaiapo
• Marathi: अभिलाषणे (abhilāṣṇe), लालचणे (lālacṇe), लालचावणे (lālcāvṇe), लालुचणे (lālucṇe)
• Norwegian: attrå, ønske sterkt
• Old English: wilnian
• Polish: pożądać (pl)
• Portuguese: desejar (pt), cobiçar (pt)
• Romanian: a râvni, a dori, jindui (ro), ochi (ro)
• Russian: жажда́ть (ru) impf (žaždátʹ), си́льно жела́ть impf (sílʹno želátʹ)
• Sanskrit: गृध्यति (sa) (gṛdhyati)
• Serbo-Croatian: žudjeti (sh), žuditi (sh), žudeti (sh)
• Slovak: mať zálusk (na niečo)
• Spanish: desear (es), codiciar (es)
• Swedish: begära (sv)
• Tagalog: imbutin
• Turkish: imrenmek (tr)

to long for inordinately or unlawfully

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 覬覦／觊觎 (gei³ jyu⁴)

• Dutch: begeren (nl), lonken (nl)
• French: convoiter (fr), guigner (fr)
• Maori: taiapo, kaiapo
• Romanian: a râvni, a tânji
• Russian: жажда́ть (ru) impf (žaždátʹ), си́льно жела́ть impf (sílʹno želátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: hlepiti (sh)

to have or indulge inordinate desire

• Bulgarian: пожелавам (bg) (poželavam)
• Dutch: lusten (nl), smachten (nl)
• Finnish: himoita (fi)
• German: sehnen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌱𐌹𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍉𐌽 (bifaihōn)
• Maori: monoa, monowa, kōhaehae
• Russian: жажда́ть (ru) impf (žaždátʹ), домога́ться (ru) impf (domogátʹsja), си́льно жела́ть impf (sílʹno želátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: žuditi (sh), žudjeti (sh), žudeti (sh)
• Swedish: sukta (sv)
• Turkish: gözü kalmak (tr) (for another's possession)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} begehren (de), ^{(please verify)} ersehnen (de)
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} girnast, ^{(please verify)} ágirnast (is)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} appeto (la), ^{(please verify)} concupisco
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} codiciar (es), ^{(please verify)} envidiar (es)

Further reading

• “covet”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “covet”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.