All 5 Uses
avarice
in
Dante's Inferno -- translated by Longfellow
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- The just are two, and are not understood there;
Envy and Arrogance and Avarice
Are the three sparks that have all hearts enkindled.†Canto 1.1-11 *avarice = excessive desire for wealth - Clerks those were who no hairy covering
Have on the head, and Popes and Cardinals,
In whom doth Avarice practise its excess.†Canto 1.1-11 - Old rumour in the world proclaims them blind;
A people avaricious, envious, proud;
Take heed that of their customs thou do cleanse thee.†Canto 1.12-22avaricious = having or showing excessive desire for wealth - Not the sole Bolognese am I who weeps here;
Nay, rather is this place so full of them,
That not so many tongues to-day are taught
'Twixt Reno and Savena to say 'sipa;'
And if thereof thou wishest pledge or proof,
Bring to thy mind our avaricious heart.†Canto 1.12-22 - And were it not that still forbids it me
The reverence for the keys superlative
Thou hadst in keeping in the gladsome life,
I would make use of words more grievous still;
Because your avarice afflicts the world,
Trampling the good and lifting the depraved.†Canto 1.12-22avarice = excessive desire for wealth
Definitions:
-
(1)
(avarice) excessive desire for wealthLike "greed", but implies greed specifically for money. The early Christian Church counted avarice as one of the "seven deadly sins."
- (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)