Etymologically
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lucrative

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈluː.kɹə.tɪv/[1]
  • US: /ˈlu.kɹə.tɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English lucratif,[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French lucratif and directly borrowed from Latin lucrātīvus (“gainful, profitable”),[3][6][2] from lucrātus, the past participle of lucror (“to gain, win, acquire”),[6][2][4] from lucrum (“gain, profit”), the source of lucre.[6][2][3] The OED and the Oxford Dictionary of English derive the word from Latin alone.[7][8] The American Heritage Dictionary refers lucrum to the root Proto-Indo-European *lau-,[2] and Klein compares Ancient Greek λεία (leía, “booty”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Yielding gain or profit: about 1412, in Hoccleve's Regement of Princes.[7][9]

Semantic evolution

A lucrative office was one that carried pay,[7] and in Scots law, from 1681, lucrative succession denoted an acceptance by an heir apparent during the lifetime of the person he would succeed, a term modelled on Latin in Roman law.[7] From 1549 to 1797 the word could also describe people or their acts as bent on gain, avaricious.[7] Johnson (1755) defined it as "gainful; profitable; bringing money", quoting Bacon on trade.[10] Merriam-Webster Unabridged adds a military use, of a target worth attacking.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1412 – yielding gain, profitable.[7][9]
  • 1549 – of people, bent on gain (obsolete by 1797).[7]
  • 1681 – Scots law, lucrative succession.[7]
  • 1755 – Johnson: gainful, profitable.[10]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Producing a large profit or income; profitable: a lucrative contract with a shipping firm.[11][5][7]
  2. Of a military target, worth attacking.[5]
  3. (Scots law) In lucrative succession, an acceptance by an heir apparent during the lifetime of the person he will succeed.[7]

Word family

  • lucratively
  • lucrativeness
  • unlucrative

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins