'avaritia' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'avaritia', where 'avarus' meant 'greedy' and the suffix '-itia' formed a noun of state or condition.

'avaritia' was used in Classical and Medieval Latin; it was later adopted into learned English usage (Late Middle English/Early Modern period) as a direct borrowing retaining the Latin form 'avaritia'.

Initially, it meant 'the condition of being greedy' in Latin, and over time it has kept essentially the same sense in English usage — a formal or literary term for 'greed'.