Covet - Wiktionary

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• 1 English Toggle English subsection
  • 1.1 Etymology
  • 1.2 Pronunciation
  • 1.3 Verb
    • 1.3.1 Synonyms
    • 1.3.2 Derived terms
    • 1.3.3 Related terms
    • 1.3.4 Translations
  • 1.4 Further reading

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• Discussion

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English

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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• IPA(key): /ˈkʌvɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌvɪt

Verb

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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.
   • 2025 December 6, “Netflix's WBD deal swaps history for fantasy”, in FT Weekend, Lex, page 24:What Netflix really covets is closer to its current competencies: WBD's “intellectual property”, or in plain English, franchises such as Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Friends, pictured, and The Sopranos.
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.
   • 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.

Synonyms

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• hanker

Derived terms

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• covetess
• coveting
• covetingly
• uncoveting

Related terms

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• covetable
• coveter
• covetous

Translations

[edit] to wish for with eagerness — see also desire

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, attrå Dutch: begeren (nl), hunkeren (nl), verlangen (nl), smachten (nl) (naar) Esperanto: deziri, avidi 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 (epĭthūméō) 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 (ja) (よくばる, okubaru) Latin: concupio Malayalam: കൊതിക്കുക (ml) (kotikkuka) Māori: 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: râvni (ro), dori (ro), 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: 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) Māori: taiapo, kaiapo Romanian: râvni (ro), tânji (ro) 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) Māori: 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 (is), (please verify) ágirnast (is) Latin: (please verify) appeto (la), (please verify) concupisco

Further reading

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• “covet”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “covet”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=covet&oldid=89320750" Categories:

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