lusty

Etymology

It is formed from English lust + -y,^[2][3][4][5] first as lusti,^[6] from lust in its early sense of vigour or delight.^[7][5] Barnhart thinks it perhaps influenced by Middle Dutch lustich (“merry, cheerful”).^[5] Merriam-Webster Unabridged groups it with the Middle Dutch word, Middle High German lustic (“pleasant, merry”) and Old Norse lostigr (“willing, ready”), all from a prehistoric adjective formed from the noun seen in Old English lust (“pleasure”) with the suffix that is -ig in Old English;^[8] the OED compares the Middle High German word, now German lustig, and the Old Norse one.^[2] The noun is from Proto-Germanic *lustuz.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of people: joyful, merry, cheerful, lively: before 1225, in the Legend of Saint Katherine.^[2] Barnhart dates it to probably about 1200,^[5] and Etymonline to the early 13th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The early adjective took the pleasant side of lust, delight: Etymonline notes that it was used of handsome dress, fine weather, good food and pleasing language, and largely escaped the moral darkening of the noun.^[4] The OED records "pleasing, beautiful" from before 1240, of seasons and places from about 1366, of language from 1399 and of dress from about 1412, all obsolete by the early 17th century.^[2] The sense "healthy, strong, vigorous" appears in Chaucer's Anelida and Arcite (about 1374),^[2] and Barnhart cites the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.^[5] Chaucer used the word 54 times and Gower 115 times.^[9] The sense "lustful" is recorded from about 1386, in the Manciple's Prologue, to 1697 in the OED's entry, which has not been revised since 1903,^[2] and Etymonline calls it secondary;^[4] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Collins again list "lustful" as a current sense.^[8][10] The Shorter Oxford adds "insolent, arrogant" (early 16th to late 17th century), "energetic" of an action and "hearty" of a meal (from the mid 17th century), and "massively built, stout" (late 18th century, now archaic).^[3] Johnson (1755) defined it as stout, vigorous, healthy, able of body, and gave it a Dutch origin.^[11] In dialect it meant pleasant in Scotland, strong and healthy-looking in many districts, and fat or bulky in Scotland and many English counties; in Surrey "You be grow'd quite lusty" was a common compliment.^[12]

Timeline

• before 1225 – of people: joyful, merry, lively (obsolete by 1625).^[2]
• before 1240 – pleasing in appearance, beautiful (obsolete by 1600).^[2]
• c. 1374 – healthy, strong, vigorous.^[2] Barnhart dates the sense to 1387–95.^[5]
• c. 1386 – lustful (obsolete by 1697 in the OED).^[2]
• c. 1412 – of dress: handsome; of people, gaily dressed (obsolete by 1619).^[2]
• 1430–40 – of singing, music and festivities: merry, cheerful.^[2]
• 1493 – full of desire, desirous (obsolete by 1657).^[2]
• mid 17th century – of an action, energetic; of a meal, hearty.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Full of health and vigour; robust and strong: two lusty young horses.^[10][8][3]
2. Done with energy; hearty or strong: The crowd gave a lusty cheer.^[10][3][8]
3. Full of sexual desire; lustful.^[8][10][2]
4. (archaic) Merry, cheerful, joyous.^[8][3][2]
5. (obsolete) Pleasing, pleasant or attractive.^[3][2][6]

Word family

• lustily
• lustiness
• overlusty
• unlusty
• lustihood

Related words

• lust
• lustful

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ 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)