lubrication

Etymology

It is formed from English lubricate + -ation, as a noun of action.^[2][3] Lubricate is from Latin lūbricō (“to make slippery or smooth”), from lūbricus (“slippery”),^[3][2] which Etymonline traces to a suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European *sleubh- (“to slip, slide”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of lubricating: Etymonline dates the word to the 1640s,^[3] while the OED, in an entry first published in 1903 and not yet revised, has its first quotation from 1802, in W. Paley's Natural Theology.^[2]

Semantic evolution

English had earlier nouns for the same idea: lubrifaction, from the 1540s, and lubrification, from the 1690s.^[3] The OED defines lubrication as the action of lubricating or the state of being lubricated, also used attributively;^[2] the verb itself was used from 1623 of making something slippery or smooth and after 1745 of oiling a machine so that it runs easily.^[2]

Timeline

• 1640s – the act of lubricating.^[3] The OED's first quotation is from 1802.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or process of applying a lubricant, such as oil or grease, to reduce friction between moving surfaces, or the state of being lubricated.^[4][2][1]

Word family

• overlubrication
• relubrication
• self-lubrication

Related words

• lubricate
• lubricant
• lubricity

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster