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Webster 1913 Edition

Harpy

Har′py

(här′py̆)
,
Noun.
;
pl.
Harpies
(-pĭz)
.
[F.
harpie
, L.
harpyia
, Gr.
ἄρπυια
, from the root of
ἁρπάζειν
to snatch, to seize. Cf.
Rapacious
.]
1.
(Gr. Myth.)
A fabulous winged monster, ravenous and filthy, having the face of a woman and the body of a vulture, with long claws, and the face pale with hunger. Some writers mention two, others three.
Both table and provisions vanished quite.
With sound of
harpies’
wings and talons heard.
Milton.
2.
One who is rapacious or ravenous; an extortioner.
The
harpies
about all pocket the pool.
Goldsmith.
3.
(Zool.)
(a)
The European moor buzzard or marsh harrier (
Circus aeruginosus
).
(b)
A large and powerful, double-crested, short-winged American eagle (
Thrasaëtus harpyia
). It ranges from Texas to Brazil.
Harpy bat
(Zool.)
(a)
An East Indian fruit bat of the genus
Harpyia
(esp.
Harpyia cephalotes
), having prominent, tubular nostrils.
(b)
A small, insectivorous Indian bat (
Harpiocephalus harpia
).
–
Harpy fly
(Zool.)
,
the house fly.

Webster 1828 Edition

Harpy

H`ARPY

,
Noun.
[L. harpyia; Gr. to seize or claw.]
1.
In antiquity, the harpies were fabulous winged monsters, having the face of a woman and the body of a vulture, with their feet and fingers armed with sharp claws. They were three in number, Aello, Ocypete, and Celeno. They were sent by Juno to plunder the table of Phineus. They are represented as rapacious and filthy animals.
2.
Any rapacious or ravenous animal; an extortioner; a plunderer.

Definition 2024

harpy

harpy

English

Noun

harpy ‎(plural harpies)

  1. A fabulous winged monster, ravenous and filthy, having the face of a woman and the body of a vulture.
    • Milton
      Both table and provisions vanished quite,
      With sound of harpies' wings and talons heard.
  2. A shrewish woman.
    • 1927, Edgar Rice Burrows, The Outlaw of Torn, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2008:
      But her most subtle wiles proved ineffectual in ridding her, even for a moment, of her harpy jailer […]
  3. One who is rapacious or ravenous; an extortioner.
    • Goldsmith
      The harpies about all pocket the pool.
  4. The European moor buzzard or marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus).
  5. A large and powerful double-crested, short-winged American eagle (Thrasaetus harpyia).

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Etymology

French harpie, Latin harpyia, from Ancient Greek ἅρπυια ‎(hárpuia, literally “snatcher”), from ἁρπάζω ‎(harpázō, “I snatch, seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rep- ‎(“snatch, take, seize”). Compare rapacious.

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