lustre
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlʌstə/
Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ʌstə
Etymology 1
From Middle French lustre. See luster (etymology 1).
Noun
lustre (countable and uncountable, plural lustres)
- (British spelling) Alternative form of luster (shine, etc.)
- (geology) The way in which the surface of any particular type of mineral reflects light differently from other minerals, which is helpful in telling minerals apart.
- Various kinds of minerals differ in their lustre; iron pyrites are described as having a metalliclustre, glassy materials a vitreouslustre; others, such as opal, look resinous, and the lustres of yet others are described as being either pearly, or silky, or dull, like earth.
- A glass ornament such as a prism or cut glass dangling beneath a chandelier; usually in clusters or festoons.
- 2013, Shena Mackay, Redhill Rococo, →ISBN:
- ...he went out through the unfamiliar hall, setting the chandelier clashing its dusty lustres with his hand, leaving a prismatic jangle behind him in the empty house.
-
- (dated) A chandelier, particularly one decorated with glass lustres.
- 1838, John Henry Brady, A new pocket guide to London and its environs:
- In the centre is painted an eagle, from whose beak an elegant glass lustre chandelier is suspended. There are also ten smaller chandeliers in different parts of the room.
- 1889, Anonymous, The Journal of Gas Lighting, Water Supply & Sanitary Improvement:
- On the ground floor, the library (a room in carved oak) is lighted by a lustre composed of twelve regenerative burners enclosed in tinted glasses.
-
Antonyms
- dullness
- lacklustre
Derived terms
- lustreware
Related terms
- lustrous
Translations
Verb
lustre (third-person singular simple present lustres, present participle lustring, simple past and past participle lustred)
- (British spelling) Alternative form of luster
Translations
Etymology 2
From Latin lustrum, q.v.
Noun
lustre (plural lustres)
- (British spelling) Alternative form of luster: A 5-year period, especially (historical) in Roman contexts.
References
- lustre in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
Anagrams
- Luster, Ulster, lurest, luster, luters, result, rulest, rustle, sutler, truels, ulster
Catalan
Etymology
From Latin lustrum. Doublet of llustre and llostre.
Pronunciation
- (Balearic, Central) IPA(key): /ˈlus.tɾə/
- (Valencian) IPA(key): /ˈlus.tɾe/
Noun
lustre m (plural lustres)
- lustrum (period of five years)
Related terms
- llustre
Further reading
- “lustre” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lystʁ/
Audio (file)
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Latin lūstrum (“purification celebrated every few years; a period of five or four years”).
Noun
lustre m (plural lustres)
- (literary) lustrum; period of five years
- (figuratively; chiefly in the plural) a very long time, an eternity
- Synonyms: éternité, (informal) plombes, (informal) belle lurette
- Ça fait des lustres que je ne t'ai pas vu ! ― I haven't seen you in ages!
Usage notes
- Larousse considers all senses of this word as literary[1], but only that of "five years" is marked as such by Le Robert[2] and Trésor[3].
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Italian lustro.
Noun
lustre m (plural lustres)
- lustre, chandelier
- gloss, shine, lustre
Related terms
- lustrage
- lustrer
- lustrine
Descendants
- Russian: лю́стра f (ljústra)
- Polish: lustro n
References
- “lustre” in Dictionnaire Français en ligne Larousse.
- “lustre” in Dico en ligne Le Robert.
- “lustre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
Adjective
lustre f pl
- feminine plural of lustro
Middle French
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian lustro.
Noun
lustre m (plural lustres)
- lustre; shine
Portuguese
Etymology
From French lustre.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈlus.tɾi/
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /ˈluʃ.tɾi/
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈlus.tɾe/
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈluʃ.tɾ(ɨ)/
- Hyphenation: lus‧tre
Noun
lustre m (plural lustres)
- chandelier
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlustɾe/ [ˈlus.t̪ɾe]
- Rhymes: -ustɾe
- Syllabification: lus‧tre
Etymology 1
From either French lustre or Catalan llustre, from Italian lustro, derived from the verb lustrare. A French or Catalan intermediate is likely due to the change in the final vowel, typical of borrowings that are ultimately early Italianisms before the 16th century. Not attested in Old Spanish; first attested in Nebrija.
Noun
lustre m (plural lustres)
- lustre, shine
- el lustre de mis zapatos, del metal, de los minerales
- the shine of my shoes, of the metal, of minerals
- 1495, Antonio de Nebrija, Vocabulario español-latino :
- Blanquear dando lustre. candifico .as.
- To whiten giving lustre: candificō, -ās.
- Blanquear dando lustre. candifico .as.
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
lustre
- inflection of lustrar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
Further reading
- “lustre”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
- Joan Coromines; José A. Pascual (1984), “lustre”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico (in Spanish), volume III (G–Ma), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, pages 717-718