luke

Pronunciation

• IPA: /luːk/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English luke, lewk (“tepid”), a word of uncertain origin.^[2][3] It is perhaps from an unrecorded Old English *hlēoc, an unexplained variant of hlēowe “warm”, from Proto-Germanic *khlewaz, or from Middle Dutch or Old Frisian leuk “tepid, weak”.^[2] MWU relates it to Old English hlēow “warm”, the source of lew.^[3] It is related to lee.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lukewarm, tepid: about 1205 in the OED, about 1200 in Etymonline.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Figuratively, half-hearted, it is from 1340.^[4] It is now obsolete except in lukewarm (late 14th century).^[2][3] Other formations, now obsolete, were luke-hot (late 14th century) and luke-hearted (about 1500).^[2][4] Old English also had wlæc “lukewarm”, Middle English wlake, and Middle English had lew-warm beside luke-warm.^[2] A verb, to make lukewarm, is from before 1400.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1205 – tepid.^[4]
• 1340 – half-hearted.^[4]
• late 14th century – lukewarm.^[2]
• a. 1400 – verb, to make lukewarm.^[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. (obsolete, dialect) lukewarm; tepid.

Word family

• lukewarm

Related words

• lee
• lew

Usage notes

Capitalized, Luke is a man's name, from Latin Lucas, Greek Loukas,^[2][3] and the third Gospel, ascribed to St Luke.^[5][3] In Scottish and English dialect, Luke's little summer is a spell of fine weather around St Luke's day, 18 October.^[6][2]

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 c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ 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)