Etymologically
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lucre

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 11 October 2026 at 23:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈluːkə/ (UK); /ˈluːkɚ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English,[2][3] from Old French lucre,[4][3] from Latin lucrum (“gain, profit”),[2][5][4][3][6] which is probably related to Old English lēan “reward” and German Lohn.[3][6][4] It is related to lucrative.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Illicit gain, and also monetary gain or profit (about 1390).[5][4][7]

Semantic evolution

The word had a bad sense from the start: Latin lucrum also meant “avarice”, and Middle English lucre could mean illicit gain.[2][5] William Tyndale's rendering of Greek aiskhron kerdos as filthy lucre in Titus 1:11 fixed its unfavourable tone.[2][4][7] The OED notes that it is now used only with this unfavourable implication.[7]

Timeline

  • about 1380 – gain, profit.[7]
  • about 1390 – illicit gain.[5]
  • 1570 – verb, to make gain, now rare.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Money or profit, especially regarded as degrading or as the object of greed.

Word family

  • filthy lucre
  • lucrative

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press