Etymologically
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lucky

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈlʌk.i/[1]

Etymology

It is a derivation, from English luck + -y.[2][3][4][5] Barnhart notes that luck itself could possibly be a back-formation from earlier lukky, though it is more likely from Middle Dutch luc.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of persons, having good luck: the mid-15th century in Etymonline[2] and the 15th century in Merriam-Webster;[3] the OED's first example is from 1502.[7]

Semantic evolution

Of actions and objects, “likely to bring luck”, it is from the 1540s,[2] or 1548 in the OED.[7] “Occurring by chance, fortuitous” is from the 1590s.[2] Of a piece of writing, “happily expressed without effort”, it is from 1700.[7] Lucky accident is from the 1660s, lucky dog from 1842, and lucky break from 1884, in billiards.[2] In Scots lucky or luckie was also a familiar name for an elderly woman, a grandmother or the landlady of an alehouse, from the early 18th century,[4][7][8] and the slang phrase cut one's lucky, “to run away”, is from 1834.[7][4]

Timeline

  • mid-15th century – of persons, fortunate.[2]
  • 1548 – of actions, attended by luck.[7]
  • 1590s – happening by chance.[2]
  • 1660s – lucky accident.[2]
  • 1717 – Scots noun, an alehouse landlady.[7]
  • 1834 – cut one's lucky.[7]
  • 1842 – lucky dog.[2]
  • 1884 – lucky break.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Having or resulting from good luck; fortunate.
  2. Happening by chance; fortuitous.
  3. Believed to bring good luck: a lucky number.

Word family

  • luckiness
  • luckily
  • superlucky
  • unlucky
  • happy-go-lucky
  • lucky dip

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ 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)