Acquisitiveness
/ˌæk.wɪˈzɪt.ɪv.nəs/noun
The quality of having a strong desire to acquire and possess things.
Did you know?Acquisitiveness is built from Latin roots tied to seeking and obtaining, and in older moral and psychological writing it was often treated as a dangerous appetite of the soul.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
acquirere
“to seek to get, gain, or obtain”
Late Latin
Latin
acquisit-
“gotten, obtained”
Middle English
English
acquisitif / acquisitiveness
“having a tendency to acquire or get”
18th-19th Century
English
acquisitiveness
“the faculty or disposition to acquire, especially in phrenological and moral psychology”
Modern English
English
acquisitiveness
“a strong desire to acquire and possess things”