luck

Pronunciation

• IPA: /lʌk/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English lucke, luk,^[2][3] probably borrowed from Middle Dutch luc, a shortening of ghelucke “happiness, good fortune”,^[4][2][5] modern Dutch geluk; its cognates include Middle High German gelücke and German Glück.^[4][2] It is not found in Old English, and may have come into English as a gambling term, Low German being a frequent source of such terms in the 15th and 16th centuries.^[2][5][4] Old Frisian lukk, Old Norse lukka, Danish lykke and Swedish lycka are borrowed from the same source.^[2] The ultimate origin is unknown;^[2][4] the New Oxford suggests a possible link with lock.^[6] Barnhart also allows a back-formation from lucky.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Fortune, good or bad, what happens by chance: 1481,^[7] before 1500 in Barnhart,^[2] about 1500 in Etymonline.^[4] A Middle English verb lukken, “to happen, chance”, is from the mid-15th century.^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

The Old English word for what determines events was wyrd, the source of weird, and destiny and fate came later from French and Italian.^[9] People have wished each other good luck since the 1530s,^[9] and good luck! as a salutation to someone setting off is from 1805.^[4] As luck would have it is from 1598.^[7] Better luck next time is by 1802, down on one's luck from 1832, no such luck by 1835, in luck from 1857 and push one's luck from 1911.^[4] The idea “lucky at cards, unlucky in love” is already a commonplace in Swift's Polite Conversation (1738).^[9] The modern verb, “to have good luck”, is a new formation, by 1945,^[4] and luck out, “to succeed by luck”, is American, attested by 1946.^[4] Lucky is from about 1450, and luckless from 1563.^[2]

Timeline

• mid-15th century – verb lukken, to happen.^[4]
• c. 1450 – lucky.^[2]
• 1481 – fortune good or ill.^[7]
• 1530s – good luck.^[9]
• 1598 – as luck would have it.^[7]
• 1832 – down on one's luck.^[4]
• 1911 – push one's luck.^[4]
• 1946 – luck out.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The force that seems to make things happen by chance, good or bad.
2. Good fortune; success by chance.
3. A person's fortune or lot: his luck ran out.

Verb

1. (informal) To succeed or gain something by chance: luck out, luck into.

Word family

• luckless
• potluck
• chuck-a-luck
• hard-luck
• lucky
• beginner's luck
• lady luck

Related words

• unlucky
• weird

Usage notes

In Shetland a separate verb luck meant “to entice, coax”.^[10]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)