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Beginning 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 English Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions
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English [ edit ] Etymology [ edit ] From Middle English coveten , coveiten , coveyten , from Old French covoitier (modern French convoiter ), from covoitié ( “ desire ” ) , presumably modified from Latin cupiditas .
Pronunciation [ edit ] IPA(key): /ˈkʌvɪt/ Audio ( Southern England ) : (file)
Rhymes: -ʌvɪt Verb [ edit ] covet (third-person singular simple present covets, present participle coveting, simple past and past participle coveted)
( transitive ) 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 . ( transitive ) ( intransitive ) 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 [ edit ] Derived terms [ edit ] covetess coveting covetingly uncoveting [ edit ] covetable coveter covetous Translations [ edit ] 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 , 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 ) 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: 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: 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: 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 ) 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 (is) , (please verify) ágirnast (is) Latin: (please verify) appeto (la) , (please verify) concupisco
Further reading [ edit ] “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 [ … ] Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=covet&oldid=88577006" Categories:
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