Meaning

noun a malicious woman with a fierce temper

noun (Greek mythology) vicious winged monster; often depicted as a bird with the head of a woman

noun any of various fruit bats of the genus Nyctimene distinguished by nostrils drawn out into diverging tubes

originUltimately from Middle French harpie, from Latin harpyia, from Ancient Greek ἅρπυιᾰ (hárpuiă, literally “snatcher”), from ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “to snatch, seize”). Compare rapacious. Middle English had arpie.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0