lustre

lustre¹ period of five years

Etymology tree of lustre¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin lūstrum

French lustre

From the same root · lustre¹

Latin lūstrālis ← lūstrum

Latin lūstrō ← lūstrum

Pronunciation

• /lystʁ/^[1]

Forms

lustre m (plural lustres)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the period of five years is borrowed from Latin lūstrum (“purificatory sacrifice held every five years at the census”).^[2][3][4][1] The origin of the Latin ritual term is uncertain: the Grand Robert takes it probably from luō (“to loose, redeem, atone”), the GLLF from the same verb in the sense “to wash, to wipe out by expiation”, while Rey notes that a link with lavō (“to wash”) is hard to square with the ⟨s⟩ before the suffix.^[5][6][3] Rey also stresses that it is unrelated to the source of lustre² “shine”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1213, in the Faits des Romains, for the expiatory sacrifice held in ancient Rome every five years at the census.^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

By metonymy it came to mean a period of five years: Bloch and Wartburg date this sense to Bersuire in 1354, the TLFi to Cotgrave in 1611.^[4][2][3] The census that went with the sacrifice is recorded from Furetière (1690).^[6]

In ordinary use the word names a time felt to be far longer than five years: il y a des lustres and depuis des lustres mean “a very long time ago”.^[3][7] Bloch and Wartburg note it is used mostly as a term of Roman antiquities, but sometimes jokingly of modern time.^[4] The adjective lustral was borrowed about 1355 from Latin lūstrālis (“serving to purify”).^[3]

Timeline

• 1213 – The Faits des Romains use it for the Roman expiatory sacrifice.^[2][6]
• 1354 – Bersuire uses it for a period of five years.^[4]
• c. 1355 – Lustral is borrowed from Latin.^[3]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the sense “period of five years”.^[2][6]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “census”.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Roman antiquity) The expiatory sacrifice held every five years at the census, and the census itself.^[2][6]
2. (literary) A period of five years, a lustrum: elle avait atteint son huitième lustre.^[7][2]
3. (in the plural) A long, indefinite time: depuis des lustres, il y a des lustres.^[7][3][1]

lustre² shine; chandelier

Pronunciation

• /lystʁ/^[1]

Forms

lustre m (plural lustres)^[1]

Etymology

The word for shine and the chandelier is borrowed from Italian lustro (“glory, renown, brightness”), a deverbal noun from lustrare (“to make famous, to light up”).^{[2][3][5][4][1]} The TLFi takes the Italian verb from Latin lūstrō (“to light up”), properly “to purify by an expiatory sacrifice”, a derivative of lūstrum.^[2][5] Rey instead sees in the poetic Latin verb “to light up” a derivative of a noun meaning “light”, from the root Proto-Indo-European *leuk- (“to shine”), like lūmen, and so distinct from the verb meaning “to purify”; prose avoided the clash by using illūstrō.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in a figurative sense, “brilliance”, in Guillaume Flamang's life of Saint Didier (1482), where Langres is called lustre lumineux.^[2][3] The literal sense follows in 1489, in Robert Gaguin: au lustre d'armes “in the gleam of arms”.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

By metonymy the word named the finish that gives fabrics and furs their sheen (1586).^[2][3] In the 16th century it also meant an aspect under which a thing is seen: Montaigne wrote that every thing has plusieurs biais et plusieurs lustres.^[8]

The concrete and now usual sense “chandelier”, a lighting fixture with several branches hung from the ceiling, is recorded from 1657, at first in descriptions of ceremonies;^[2][3][4] Bloch and Wartburg place its development in the 16th century.^[2][3][4] The verb lustrer “to give a shine to” dates from 1495,^[3] and lustrerie, the lighting fixtures as a whole and the trade in them, from 1868.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1482 – Guillaume Flamang uses it figuratively for “brilliance”.^[2][3]
• 1489 – Robert Gaguin uses it for the gleam of arms.^[2][4]
• 1495 – The verb lustrer appears.^[3]
• 1547 – Jean Martin's translation of Vitruvius uses it for the shine of a surface.^[2]
• 1586 – It names the finish given to fabrics.^[2][3]
• 1657 – Villiers' journal of a stay in Paris mentions lustres de cristal, chandeliers.^[2][7]
• 1868 – Lustrerie is recorded.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The natural or artificial shine of a bright or polished object: donner du lustre à.^[7][2]
2. (technical) A coating or finish used to make fabrics and skins shiny, and the iridescent glaze of pottery.^[7][8]
3. (figurative, literary) The radiance that beauty or merit confers, prestige: redonner du lustre à.^[7][8]
4. A chandelier, a lighting fixture hung from the ceiling and carrying several lamps: un lustre de cristal.^[7][9]

Word family

• lustrer
• lustrerie