harpy

Ultimately 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.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑɹpi/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑːpi/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)pi
• Hyphenation: har‧py

harpy (plural harpies)

1. (mythology) 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.
   • 1671, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:

     Both table and provisions vanish'd quite,
     With sound of harpies' wings and talons heard.

2. (derogatory) A shrewish woman.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:shrew

   • 1927, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Outlaw of Torn‎^[1], 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 […]

   • 2011 March 17, Toby Young, “Mumsnet isn't representative of the 'squeezed middle'. It's just a bunch of Guardian-reading, laptop-wielding harpies”, in The Telegraph‎^[2], archived from the original on 20 March 2011:

     […] Ed Miliband has yet to come up with a definition of “the squeezed middle” that excludes anyone, but you can bet your bottom dollar he has these laptop-wielding harpies in mind.

3. One who is rapacious or ravenous; an extortioner.
   • c. 1772, Oliver Goldsmith, letter to Mrs. Bunbury

     The harpies about me all pocket the pool.

4. Any of a number of eagle-like birds of prey of the subfamily Harpiinae, especially the species Harpia harpyja.
5. The European moor buzzard or marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus).

• harridan

From Ancient Greek ἅρπυιᾰ (hárpuiă).

harpy c (singular definite harpyen, plural indefinite harpyer)

1. (Greek mythology) a harpy
2. a harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja)

   Synonym: harpyørn

• “harpy” in Den Danske Ordbog

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɑrpɯ/

harpy

1. definite accusative of harp