/ˈhɑɹpi/, /ˈhɑːpi/
OriginUltimately from Middle French harpie, from Latin harpyia, from Ancient Greek ἅρπυιᾰ (hárpuiă, literally “snatcher”), from ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “I snatch, seize”). Compare rapacious. Middle English had arpie.
- A mythological creature generally depicted as a bird-of-prey with the head of a maiden, a face pale with hunger and long claws on her hands personifying the destructive power of storm winds.
“Both table and provisions vanish'd quite,
With sound of harpies' wings and talons heard.”
- One who is rapacious or ravenous; an extortioner.
“c. 1772, Oliver Goldsmith, letter to Mrs. Bunbury
The harpies about me all pocket the pool.”
- Any of a number of eagle-like birds of prey of the subfamily Harpiinae, especially the species Harpia harpyja.
- The European moor buzzard or marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus).
Formsharpies(plural)