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ra·pa·cious

(rə-pāshəs)

adj.

1. Having or showing a strong or excessive desire to acquire money or possess things; greedy: "dishonest utilities and rapacious energy traders" (Paul Roberts).

2. Living by killing prey, especially in large numbers: rapacious coyotes.

3. Taking things by force; plundering: rapacious pirates.

[From Latin rapāx, rapāc-, from rapere, to seize; see rep- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

ra·pacious·ly adv.

ra·paci·ty (rə-păsĭ-tē), ra·pacious·ness n.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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