Harpy
[hahr-pee]
- Classical Mythology. a ravenous, filthy monster having a woman's head and a bird's body.
- (lowercase) a scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman; shrew.
- (lowercase) a greedy, predatory person.
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Origin of Harpy
< Latin Harpȳia, singular of Harpȳiae < Greek Hárpȳiai (plural), literally, snatchers, akin to harpázein to snatch away
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for harpy
Historical Examples
Madame Beattie was a familiar name to them, but they had never heard she was a harpy.
The PrisonerAlice Brown
It was also the day of the man behind the bar, of the gambler, of the harpy.
The Trail of '98Robert W. Service
“Harpy it might have been, but happy it was not,” he answered with a groan.
The Three CommandersW.H.G. Kingston
Their hands, when they possessed them, were like harpy claws.
The House of PrideJack London
One is bound to be courteous to a lady, even though that lady be a harpy.
The Struggles of Brown, Jones, and RobinsonAnthony Trollope
harpy
- a cruel grasping woman
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin Harpyia, from Greek Harpuiai the Harpies, literally: snatchers, from harpazein to seize
Harpy
- Greek myth a ravenous creature with a woman's head and trunk and a bird's wings and claws
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for harpy
n.
late 14c., from Old French harpie (14c.), from Greek Harpyia (plural), literally "snatchers," probably related to harpazein "to snatch" (see rapid). Metaphoric extension to "greedy person" is c.1400.
In Homer they are merely personified storm winds, who were believed to have carried off any person that had suddenly disappeared. In Hesiod they are fair-haired and winged maidens who surpass the winds in swiftness, and are called Aello and Ocypete; but in later writers they are represented as disgusting monsters, with heads like maidens, faces pale with hunger, and claws like those of birds. The harpies ministered to the gods as the executors of vengeance. ["American Cyclopædia," 1874]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper