harpy
(ˈhɑːpɪ)
[ad. L. harpȳ-ia, usually in pl. harpȳiæ = Gr. ἅρπῡιαι ‘snatchers’ (cf. ἁρπάζειν to snatch away, seize), in Homer used to personify whirlwinds or hurricanes, in Hesiod said to be sisters of Aello and Iris, in later mythology represented as hideous winged monsters. Perh. immediately a. F. harpie (14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.).]
1. Gr. and Lat. Mythol. A fabulous monster, rapacious and filthy, having a woman's face and body and a bird's wings and claws, and supposed to act as a minister of divine vengeance.
| 1540 Palsgrave tr. Acolastus N iv b, Such were the harpies, as Virgil discribith them. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iii. iii. 83 Brauely the figure of this Harpie has thou Perform'd (my Ariell); a grace it had, deuouring. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 462 Both table and provision vanished quite With sound of harpies' wings, and talons heard. 1736 Butler Anal. i. iii. Wks. 1874 I. 51 His vices..like so many harpies, craving for their accustomed gratification. 1868 Tennyson Lucretius 159 Strangers at my hearth Not welcome, harpies miring every dish. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets viii. 263 The Harpies were wind-tossed films of frothy cloud; the Sirens daughters of foam and mist. |
b. A conventional representation or figure of a harpy, as in Heraldry.
| 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 111 b, An Harpie Vert, Wynged de Or. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xxvi. (1611) 183 The Harpey..should be giuen to such persons as haue committed manslaughter. 1823 Crabb Technol. Dict. s.v., The field is, or, a harpy displayed, crined, crowned, and armed, or. 1873 Boutell Her. Anc. & Mod. 158 Harpy, a fabulous heraldic creature, represented as a vulture with a woman's head and neck. |
2. transf. and fig. A rapacious, plundering, or grasping person; one that preys upon others.
| 1589 Warner Alb. Eng. v. xxviii. (R.), Plucke downe those grating harpies that Seduce our king amis. 1643 Myst. Iniq. 45 The insolent carriage of Prince Rupert, and his Harpyes. 1775 Johnson Tax. no Tyr. 5 The harpies of taxation. 1859 Thackeray Virgin. xviii, Was it my mother-in-law, the grasping, odious, abandoned, brazen harpy? 1884 St. James' Gaz. 4 Apr. 4/2 Mr. Commissioner Kerr has begun a crusade against legal ‘harpies’. |
3. The harpy-eagle.
| 1838 Penny Cycl. X. 175/2 The harpy is stated to be a solitary bird, frequenting the thickest forests, where it feeds upon the sloths. 1856 Knight Cycl. Nat. Hist. II. 698 The Harpies, or Fishing Eagles, with short wings. |
4. The moor-buzzard, Circus æruginosus.
| 1838 Penny Cycl. X. 183/1 Circus æruginosus..is the..Moor-Buzzard, Marsh-Harrier, Duck-Hawk, Harpy, and White-headed Harpy. 1862 Chambers's Encycl. V. 252. |
5. The harpy-bat, q.v.
6. attrib. and Comb., as harpy advocate, harpy breed, harpy fury, harpy grin, harpy lawyer, harpy pettifogger, harpy race, harpy raven; harpy-footed, harpy-like adjs.; harpy-monument, a monument found at Xanthus in Lycia, on which are figures resembling harpies.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. Democr. to Rdr. 32 They..undo one another to enrich an Harpy advocate. Ibid. ii. i. iv. i. 209 That he be not over-careless or covetous, Harpy-like to make a prey of his patient. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 596 Thither by harpy-footed Furies hail'd. 1749 Smollett Regicide ii. vii, Why let in A train of harpy sorrows to my breast? 1767 Wesley Jrnl. 11 Aug., The harpy-lawyers are..disappointed. 1853–78 W. Smith Class. Dict. 298 In the famous Harpy monument recently brought from Lycia to this country, the Harpies are represented in the act of carrying off the daughters of Pandareus. 1866 Trollope Claverings xxiv, Woman,—altogether of the harpy breed! |
Hence harpyian (erron. harpeian, harpyan) a., belonging to or characteristic of a harpy.
| 1644 Vicars Jehovah-Jireh 46 For fear of their Harpeian paws. c 1728 E. Prior Lament. in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 676 Those harpyan claws. |