lust

Forms

lust m (strong a-stem; genitive singular lustes, nominative plural lustas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *lustu, from Proto-Germanic *lustuz (“desire, lust”).^[1][2] The word is found in Gothic 𐌻𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌿𐍃 (lustus), Old Frisian lust, Old Saxon lust and Old High German lust, and late as Old Norse lyst.^[2][3][4]

Its further origin is disputed.^[2][3] Kroonen, Holthausen and Köbler set it beside Ancient Greek λιλαίομαι (lilaíomai, “to long for”), Latin lascīvus (“playful, unrestrained”) and Old Irish lainn (“greedy”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *leh₂s- (“to be eager”).^[2][5][4] Orel thinks it more likely a derivative of Proto-Germanic *lubō (“love”).^[3] Wiktionary's Proto-West Germanic entry analyses it as Proto-West Germanic *laus (“loose, free”) with the suffix *-þu.^[1]

It is a strong masculine noun, with genitive singular ⟨lustes⟩ and nominative plural ⟨lustas⟩.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in the Vespasian Psalter gloss, added in the middle of the ninth century: Psalm 9 has for ðon bið hered se synfulla in lustum sawle his “for the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul” over the Latin “in desideriis animae suae”.^[6][7] The Pastoral Care of 890×897 uses it of the body's cravings: ðonne we ures flæsces lustum ne libben “when we do not live by the desires of our flesh”.^[8][7]

Semantic evolution

The word covers desire of any kind, from Bede's eager longing for the faith (lust Cristes geleafan) and a craving for food in Ælfric to the pleasure that Epicurus held the highest good in the Boethius, and sensual appetite.^[9][10] In glosses it renders Latin desiderium and voluntas.^[4][11] In Beowulf it is gladness, and the dative plural lustum is used as an adverb “gladly, willingly”, as is the phrase on luste “glad, desirous”.^[12][13]

It lived on as Middle English lust, with the senses “wish, will” and “bodily appetite”, now English lust.^[14][15]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – in lustum sawle his “in the desires of his soul” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[6][7]
• 890×897 – ures flæsces lustum “the desires of our flesh” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[8][7]
• s. x med. – pleasure as the highest good, after Epicurus, in the Old English Boethius.^[16][9]
• s. x/xi – on lust and lustum “gladly” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[17][12]

Meanings

Noun

1. desire, longing, appetite.^[9][4]
2. pleasure, delight, joy.^[10][12]
3. sensual appetite, lust.^[9][13]

Word family

• lustum
• lustian
• lustfullīċe
• lustlīċe
• lustgeornnes
• ġelustfullian

Descendants

• Middle English lust (→ English lust)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 345
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 251
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lust
5. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 207
6. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
7. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
8. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
9. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 648
10. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 622
11. ^ Cook, Albert S. (1894), A Glossary of the Old Northumbrian Gospels, Halle: Niemeyer, p. s.v. lust
12. ^ a b c Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. lust
13. ^ a b Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 132
14. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
15. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 296
17. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344