lucubrate

English

WOTD – 15 December 2008

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lūcubrātus, perfect passive participle of lūcubrō (“work by candlelight”), from lūx (“light”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈluː.kjə.bɹeɪt/
Audio (US) (file)

Verb

lucubrate (third-person singular simple present lucubrates, present participle lucubrating, simple past and past participle lucubrated)

(rare) To work diligently by artificial light; to study at night.
- 1991 December, K. Boo, “The organization woman”, in The Washington Monthly, volume 23, issue 12, page 44:
  Instead, as Oklahoma’s tenure committee lucubrated over Hill’s future, […]
To work or write like a scholar.
- 1846, Nathaniel Chipman, in Daniel Chipman, The Life of Hon. Nathaniel Chipman, LL.D., p. 261,
  […] I shall not hesitate to repeat some of my former thoughts, when lucubrating upon the same subject.

Synonyms

work diligently

burn the midnight oil
elucubrate
pull an all-nighter

Derived terms

lucubrated (obsolete)

Related terms

elucubrate
lucubration
lucubratist (obsolete)
lucubrator
lucubratory

Translations

work diligently by artificial light; to study at night

French: pernocter (fr), veiller en travaillant
Japanese: 蛍雪の功を積む (keisetsu no kou wo tsumu)

Russian: рабо́тать но́чью (rabótatʹ nóčʹju)

work or write like a scholar

Russian: усе́рдно труди́ться (usérdno trudítʹsja)

Anagrams

tubercula

Latin

Verb

lūcubrāte

first-person plural present active imperative of lūcubrō