entry
voracious
/vɔːˈreɪʃəs/Greedy; ravenous; consuming greedily
From Latin vor (to devour).
from Latin vorāx + English -acious. First attested in the 17th century.
Word Ancestry
from Latin vorāx + English -acious. First attested in the 17th century.
This one is basically a Roman appetite with a fancy English coat on. The Latin adjective vorāx meant “devouring,” which is why its descendants feel so hungry they practically chew through the page. Then English tacked on the learned ending -acious, the same stylish suffix family that shows up in words like audacious and tenacious, as if grammar had decided hunger should dress for dinner. By the 1630s, the word was already prowling around in print, ready for anything from a wolf’s jaw to a voracious reader who inhales novels the way a starving person attacks bread. That’s the fun part: the same old devour-root can describe an alligator, a gossip columnist, or your friend who finishes a 900-page fantasy trilogy before lunch. Think of voracious as hunger in a tuxedo — still feral, just better dressed.
The Story
This one is basically a Roman appetite with a fancy English coat on. The Latin adjective vorāx meant “devouring,” which is why its descendants feel so hungry they practically chew through the page. Then English tacked on the learned ending -acious, the same stylish suffix family that shows up in words like audacious and tenacious, as if grammar had decided hunger should dress for dinner. By the 1630s, the word was already prowling around in print, ready for anything from a wolf’s jaw to a voracious reader who inhales novels the way a starving person attacks bread. That’s the fun part: the same old devour-root can describe an alligator, a gossip columnist, or your friend who finishes a 900-page fantasy trilogy before lunch. Think of voracious as hunger in a tuxedo — still feral, just better dressed.
Kin & Kindred
From 'vor'·to devour, swallow
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From '-acious'·adjectival suffix forming qualities
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary