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1849 entries found
lustrate (v.)
"purify by means of an offering," 1650s, from Latin lustratus, past participle of lustrare "purify ceremonially," from lustrum "purificatory sacrifice" (see lustrum) Related: Lustration (1610s).
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lustre (n.)

"gloss, radiance," 1520s, from French lustre (see luster (n.1)), and see -re. Related: Lustreless.

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lustrous 
c. 1600, "reflecting light;" 1742 "giving or shedding light;" see luster (n.1) + -ous. Related: Lustrously; lustrousness.
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lustrum (n.)
(plural lustra), "ceremonial purification of the Roman people every five years," 1580s, from Latin lustrum "a purificatory sacrifice, ceremony of purification; five-year period," from Proto-Italic *lustro- "expiation," which is of uncertain origin. Perhaps [OED] from root of luere "to wash" (from PIE root *leue- "to wash"). Or [Watkins, Klein], based on a possible earlier meaning "illumination," from PIE *leuk-stro-, from root *leuk- "light, brightness." De Vaan prefers as most likely the explanation "that lustrum was derived from *luH- 'to set free'," with suffix *-stro- also found in monstrum, etc.
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lusty (adj.)
early 13c., "joyful, merry;" late 14c., "full of healthy vigor," from lust (n.) + -y (2). Used of handsome dress, fine weather, good food, pleasing language, it largely escaped the Christianization and denigration of the noun in English. The sense of "full of desire" is attested from c. 1400 but seems to have remained secondary. Related: Lustily; lustiness.
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lusus naturae (n.)
in natural history, "freak of nature," 1660s, a Latin phrase, from lusus "a play," from stem of ludere "to play" (see ludicrous) + genitive of natura (see nature (n.)). Originally of fossils, before there was a scientific basis for understanding their existence.
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lute (n.)
stringed musical instrument, late 13c., from Old French lut, leut (Modern French luth), from Old Provençal laut, a misdivision of Arabic al-'ud, the Arabian lute, literally "the wood" (source of Medieval Latin lutana, Spanish laud, Portuguese alaude, Italian liuto), where al is the definite article.

Dutch luit, German Laute, Danish luth are from Romanic. A player is a luter (Middle English), a lutist (1620s) or a lutanist (c. 1600, from Medieval Latin lutanista).
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lute-string (n.)
1520s, from lute (n.) + string (n.).
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luteal (adj.)
"pertaining to the corpus luteum," 1906, from Latin luteus "yellow," from lutum, the name of a weed used in dying yellow, a word of unknown origin. Luteal phase is attested by 1932.
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luteous (adj.)
"deep orange-yellowish," 1650s, from Latin luteus "golden-yellow, orange-yellow," from lutum, the name of a weed used in dying yellow, a word of unknown origin.
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