Online Etymology Dictionary

lure (n.): early 14c., "something which allures or entices, an attraction" (a figurative use), also "bait for recalling hawks," from Anglo-French lure, Old French loirre "device used to recall hawks, lure," from Frankish *loþr or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *lothran "to call" (source also of Middle High German luoder, Middle Low German loder "lure, bait," German Luder "lure, deceit, bait;" also Old English laþian "to call, invite," German laden).

Originally a bunch of feathers on a long cord, from which the hawk is fed during its training. Used of means of alluring other animals (especially fish) from c. 1700. Technically, bait is something the animal can eat; lure is a more general term. Also in 15c. a collective word for a group of young women.
lure (v.): late 14c., of hawks, also of persons, from lure (n.). Related: Lured; luring.
lurid (adj.): 1650s, "pale," from Latin luridus "pale yellow, ghastly," of uncertain origin, perhaps cognate with Greek khloros (see Chloe). Meaning "glowing in the darkness" is from 1727. The figurative sense of "sensational" is first attested 1850. Related: Luridly.
lurk (v.): c. 1300, lurken "to hide, lie hidden," probably from Scandinavian (compare dialectal Norwegian lurka "to sneak away," dialectal Swedish lurka "to be slow in one's work"), perhaps ultimately related to Middle English luren "to frown, lurk" (see lower (v.2)). Related: Lurked; lurking.
lurker (n.): "one who lurks," early 14c., agent noun from lurk (v.).
luscious (adj.): late 15c., perhaps a variant (with form perhaps influenced by Old French luxure, lusure) of Middle English licius "delicious" (c. 1400), which is perhaps a shortening of delicious, but OED is against this. Related: Lusciously; lusciousness.
lush (adj.): mid-15c., "lax, flaccid, soft, tender," from Old French lasche "soft, succulent," from laschier "loosen," from Late Latin laxicare "become shaky," related to Latin laxare "loosen," from laxus "loose" (see lax). Sense of "luxuriant in growth" is first attested c. 1600, in Shakespeare. Applied to colors since 1744. Related: Lushly; lushness.
lush (n.): "drunkard," 1890, from earlier (1790) slang meaning "liquor" (especially in phrase lush ken "alehouse"); perhaps a humorous use of lush (adj.) or from Romany or Shelta (tinkers' jargon).
LUSHEY. Drunk. The rolling kiddeys had a spree, and got bloody lushey; the dashing lads went on a party of pleasure, and got very drunk. ["Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence," London, 1811]
Lusitania: Latin name of a region roughly corresponding to modern Portugal; in modern use, allusive or poetic for "Portugal." The Cunard ocean liner (sister ship of the Mauretania and Aquitania, also named after Roman Atlantic coastal provinces) was launched in 1906, torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-20 on May 7, 1915.
lusory (adj.): 1650s, from Latin lusorius "belonging to a player," from lusor "player," from stem of ludere "to play" (see ludicrous). Related: Lusorious.
lust (n.): Old English lust "desire, appetite, pleasure; sensuous appetite," from Proto-Germanic *lustuz (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Dutch, German lust, Old Norse lyst, Gothic lustus "pleasure, desire, lust"), from PIE *las- "to be eager, wanton, or unruly" (source also of Latin lascivus "wanton, playful, lustful;" see lascivious).

In Middle English, "any source of pleasure or delight," also "an appetite," also "a liking for a person," also "fertility" (of soil). Sense of "sinful sexual desire, degrading animal passion" (now the main meaning) developed in late Old English from the word's use in Bible translations (such as lusts of the flesh to render Latin concupiscentia carnis [I John ii:16]); the cognate words in other Germanic languages tend still to mean simply "pleasure."
lust (v.): c. 1200, "to wish, to desire," from lust (n.) and Old English lystan (see list (v.4)). Sense of "to have a strong sexual desire (for or after)" is first attested 1520s in biblical use. Related: Lusted; lusting.
luster (n.1): "gloss, radiance," 1520s, from Middle French lustre "gloss, radiance" (14c.), common Romanic (cognates: Spanish and Portuguese lustre, Rumanian lustru, Italian lustro "splendor, brilliancy"), from Latin lustrare "spread light over, brighten, illumine," related to lucere "shine," lux "light" (see light (n.)).
luster (n.2): "one who lusts," 1590s, agent noun from lust (v.).
lustful (adj.): Old English lustfull "wishful, desirous, having an eager desire;" see lust (n.) + -ful. Specifically of sexual desire from 1570s. Related: Lustfully; lustfulness. Middle English also had lustsome, which was used in a sense of "voluptuous, lustful" from c. 1400. Old English had lustbære "desirable, pleasant, cheerful, joyous."
lustgarden (n.): 1580s, translation or partial translation of German Lust-garten, Dutch lustgaard "pleasure garden;" see lust (n.) + garden (n.).
lustily (adv.): early 13c., lustliche, "willingly, eagerly, readily;" see lusty + -ly (2). Meaning "with pleasure, voluptuously" is c. 1300; meaning "vigorously, energetically" is c. 1400.
lustral (adj.): "pertaining to purification," 1530s, from Latin lustralis, from lustrum (see lustrum). Hence, also, "every five years" (1781).
lustre (n.): "gloss, radiance;" see luster (n.1).
lustrous: c. 1600, from luster + -ous. Related: Lustrously; lustrousness.
lustrum (n.): (plural lustra), "purification of the Roman people every five years," 1580s, from Latin lustrum, perhaps from root of luere "to wash," related to lavere (see lave). Or [Watkins, Klein] from PIE *leuk-stro-, from base *leuk- "light, brightness."
lusty (adj.): early 13c., "joyful, merry," from lust + -y (2). It largely has escaped the Christianization and denigration of its root word. The sense of "full of healthy vigor" is from late 14c.; that of "full of desire" is attested from c. 1400. Related: Lustily; lustiness.
lute (n.): stringed musical instrument, late 13c., from Old French lut, leut, from Old Provençal laut, from Arabic al-'ud, the Arabian lute, literally "the wood" (source of Spanish laud, Portuguese alaude, Italian liuto), where al is the definite article. A player is a lutist (1620s) or a lutanist (c. 1600, from Medieval Latin hybrid lutanista).
luteal (adj.): "pertaining to the corpus luteum," 1906, from Latin luteus "yellow" (see luteous). Luteal phase is attested by 1932.
luteous (adj.): "orange-yellow," 1650s, from Latin luteus "golden-yellow, orange-yellow," from lutum, the name of a plant used in dying yellow, of unknown origin.
Lutheran: 1521, from name of German religious reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546); used by Catholics 16c. in reference to all Protestants, regardless of sect. Related: Lutheranism.
luthier (n.): "lute-maker," 1879, from French luthier, from luth (see lute).
lutz (n.): type of skating jump, 1932, from the name Alois Lutz, "an obscure Austrian skater of the 1920s" [James R. Hines, "Historical Dictionary of Figure Skating," 2011], who is said to have first performed it in 1913.
luv: affectionate, dialectal, or colloquial spelling of love, attested from 1825.
lux (n.): unit of illumination, 1889, from Latin lux "light" (see light (n.)).
luxe: "luxury, elegance," 1550s, from French luxe "luxury, sumptuousness, profusion," from Latin luxus (see luxury).
Luxembourg: European state, from Germanic lutilla "little" + burg "fort, castle." Related: Luxembourgeois; Luxembourger. Hence also lushburg (mid-14c.), Middle English word for "a base coin made in imitation of the sterling or silver penny and imported from Luxemburg in the reign of Edward III" [OED].
Luxor: place in Egypt, from Arabic al-uqsur, plural of al-qasr, which is from an Arabicized form of Latin castrum "fortified camp" (see castle (n.)). Remains of Roman camps are nearby.
luxuriance (n.): 1650s; see luxuriant + -ance. Related: Luxuriancy (1640s).
luxuriant (adj.): 1530s, from Middle French luxuriant and directly from Latin luxuriantem (nominative luxurians), present participle of luxuriare "have to excess, grow profusely" (see luxuriate). Related: Luxuriantly.
luxuriate (v.): 1620s, "to indulge in luxury," from Latin luxuriatus, past participle of luxuriare "have to excess," figuratively "run riot, be dissolute, indulge to excess," from luxuria "excess, rankness, luxuriance" (see luxury). Related: Luxuriated; luxuriating.
luxurious (adj.): c. 1300, "lascivious, lecherous, unchaste," from Old French luxurios "lustful, lascivious" (Modern French luxurieux), from Latin luxuriosus, from luxuria (see luxury). Meaning "given to luxury, voluptuous" (of persons) is from c. 1600. Of things, meaning "characterized by luxury" is attested from c. 1650. Related: Luxuriously; luxuriousness.
luxury (n.): c. 1300, "sexual intercourse;" mid-14c., "lasciviousness, sinful self-indulgence," from Old French luxurie "debauchery, dissoluteness, lust" (Modern French luxure), from Latin luxuria "excess, luxury, extravagance, profusion; delicacy" (source also of Spanish lujuria, Italian lussuria), from luxus "excess, extravagance, magnificence," probably a figurative use of luxus (adj.) "dislocated," which is related to luctari "wrestle, strain" (see reluctance).

Meaning "sensual pleasure" is late 14c. Lost its pejorative taint 17c. Meaning "habit of indulgence in what is choice or costly" is from 1630s; that of "sumptuous surroundings" is from 1704; that of "something enjoyable or comfortable beyond life's necessities" is from 1780. Used as an adjective from 1916.
lycanthrope (n.): 1620s in the classical sense; 1825 in the modern sense, from Modern Latin lycanthropus, from Greek lykanthropos "wolf-man" (see lycanthropy).
lycanthropy (n.): 1580s, a form of madness (described by ancient writers) in which the afflicted thought he was a wolf, from Greek lykanthropia, from lykanthropos "wolf-man," from lykos "wolf" (see wolf (n.)) + anthropos "man" (see anthropo-). Originally a form of madness (described by ancient writers) in which the afflicted thought he was a wolf; applied to actual transformations of persons (especially witches) into wolves since 1830 (see werewolf).
lyceum (n.): 1580s, Latin form of Greek lykeion, name of a grove or garden with covered walks near Athens where Aristotle taught, from neuter of Lykeios "wolf-slayer," an epithet of Apollo, whose temple was nearby, from lykos "wolf." Hence lycée, name given in France to state-run secondary schools. In England, early 19c., lyceum was the name taken by a number of literary societies; in U.S., after c. 1820, it was the name of institutes that sponsored popular lectures in science and literature.
Lycra: elastic polyurethane fiber, 1955, proprietary name (registered by E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.) of an elastic polyurethane fiber.
lye (n.): Old English læg, leag "lye," from Proto-Germanic *laugo (source also of Middle Dutch loghe, Dutch loog, Old High German louga, German Lauge "lye"), from PIE root *leue- "to wash" (see lave). The substance was formerly used in place of soap, hence Old High German luhhen "to wash," Old Norse laug "hot bath, hot spring," Danish lørdag, Swedish lördag "Saturday," literally "washing-day." Chamber-lye in early Modern English was the name for urine used as a detergent.
lying (n.1): early 13c., action of lie (v.2) "to recline." Lying-in "being in childbed" is attested from mid-15c.
lying (n.2): c. 1300 (n.), action of lie (v.1) "to tell an untruth." As a past participle adjective, from 1530s.
lymph (n.): 1725 in physiology sense, "colorless fluid found in the body," from French lymphe, from Latin lympha "water, clear water, a goddess of water," variant of lumpæ "waters," altered by influence of Greek nymphe "goddess of a spring, nymph." The word was used earlier in English in the classical sense "pure water, water" (1620s), also (1670s) with reference to colorless fluids in plants. Also see lymphatic. Lymph node is attested from 1892.
lymphadenopathy (n.): 1899, from lymph + adenopathy, from comb. form of Greek aden (genitive adenos) "gland" (see inguinal) + -pathy.
lymphatic (adj.): 1640s, from Latin lymphaticus, from lympha (see lymph). Also sometimes used in the classical Latin sense "mad, frenzied," which was the primary sense of lymphaticus in Latin: OED reports this "difficult to account for," but perhaps due to association of lympha with nymphe; compare Greek nymphian "to be frenzy-stricken."
lymphocyte (n.): cell found in the lymph, 1890, from Latin lympho- (see lymph) + -cyte (see cyto-).
lymphoma (n.): plural lymphomata, 1867, from lymph + -oma.