concupiscence

From Latin concupiscentia, from concupīscō (“I desire strongly, I desire eagerly; I covet”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kənˈkjuːpɪsəns/

concupiscence (countable and uncountable, plural concupiscences)

1. An ardent desire, especially sexual desire; lust.
   • St. Augustine, The Confessions X, 30, 41. translated by Maria Boulding

     Quite certainly you command me to refrain from concupiscence of the flesh and concupiscence of the eyes and worldy pride.

   • 1888, Henry James, The Aspern Papers.

     Poor Miss Tita's sense of her failure had produced an extraordinary alteration in her, but I had been too full of my literary concupiscence to think of that. Now I perceived it; I can scarcely tell how it startled me.

   • 1973, Rex Stout, Please Pass the Guilt

     He was torn by two intense and conflicting desires: his ardent wish to advance through his association with Mr. Browning, and his concupiscence.

   • 1994, Newsweek, winter

     Skaters, spinning like atoms across fields of pure light, are desirable in a way that transcends mere concupiscence; they inhabit another element, and the man who would try to catch one risks, literally, falling on his ass.

   • For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:concupiscence.

• concupiscent (adjective)

From Latin concupiscentia, from concupīscō (“I desire strongly, I desire eagerly; I covet”).

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.ky.pi.sɑ̃s/

concupiscence f (uncountable)

1. concupiscence

• “concupiscence” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).