luister

Forms

luister m (uncountable, no diminutive)^[1] In the 16th century the word was also written luster, the form Junius used in 1567;^[2][3] Kiliaan in 1599 gives both.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French lustre (“shine, splendour”), which came into Dutch in the 16th century.^[2][3][4] The French noun, recorded from 1482, is from Italian lustro (“gleam; glory”), formed from the verb lustrare (“to glorify; to light up”), which was taken from Latin lūstrō (“to illuminate”).^[2][5][6] The Latin verb must be derived from an unrecorded noun *lūstrum (“light”), from Proto-Indo-European *leuk-stro-, a derivative of the root *leuk- (“light, bright”), the source also of licht.^[2][7]

In Dutch the vowel of the French word was lengthened before ⟨st⟩ and then diphthongised from /uː/ to /œy/, as in juist.^[2][8][3] The older form ⟨luster⟩ stood beside it for some time.^[8][3] The same French word was borrowed again later, in Belgian Dutch luster “chandelier”.^[2][8] Other Dutch words from the Latin verb are illuster and illustreren.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record is a Flemish ordinance of 1562–1592 that allows the drapers of Dendermonde to weave by their old custom, provided their cloth still has luyster, “gloss”.^[2][9] Junius's Nomenclator of 1567 glosses luster as “shine, gleam”, and Kiliaan in 1599 has luster and luyster for “splendour, brilliance”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word began as a term for the sheen of fabric, a technical sense the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal still records in 1666, when French cloth was said to differ from Dutch and English cloth in quality and luyster.^[3][9] In the 17th century it was also used of light shining from a body, as in a proverb of 1643 that bright fire has great luyster but its child the smoke is dark, of the gleam of pearls and precious stones (1630), and later of the sparkle of the eyes (1785).^[3]

The figurative sense “glory, honour” is first found in Kiliaan.^[9] From the 17th century it dominates: in 1629 the Nile is called the luyster of Egypt, and met luister means “splendidly”.^[9][3] Apart from the technical sense the word has always belonged to an elevated style.^[3] Bredero's play Rodd'rick ende Alphonsus of 1611 has the mock oath pots honderd twyntig luyster, which Van Sterkenburg explains as a disguised form of “by God's splendour”.^[10]

Timeline

• 1562–1592 – Luyster, the gloss of cloth, in a Flemish ordinance.^[2][9]
• 1567 – Luster “shine” in Junius's Nomenclator.^[2][4]
• 1599 – Kiliaan records luster and luyster “splendour”, and the sense “glory”.^[2][9]
• 1611 – Bredero uses the oath pots honderd twyntig luyster.^[10]
• 1629 – The Nile is called Egyptens luyster.^[3]
• 1666 – French cloth is compared with Dutch cloth for its luyster.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. splendour, lustre: an impressive, radiant beauty.^[11][1]
2. glory, renown, the honour something gives to a person or occasion: iets luister bijzetten, to add lustre to an event.^[11][1][12]
3. (dated) Shine, gleam, especially the gloss of a fabric.^[3]

Word family

• luisterrijk
• ontluisteren
• opluisteren

Related words

• luster
• illuster
• illustreren
• licht
• French lustre

Usage notes

The noun has nothing to do with luisteren “to listen”.^[2][3] In North Holland, western North Brabant, Antwerp and the Waasland a dialect word luister (also uister, unster) means a steelyard: it continues 16th-century unster, a derivative of Middle Dutch unce “ounce”, from Latin uncia.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Philippa, Marlies; Debrabandere, Frans; Quak, Arend; Schoonheim, Tanneke; Sijs, Nicoline van der (2003–2009), Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, 4 vols., Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; online via etymologiebank.nl
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Vries, Matthias de; Winkel, L. A. te, et al. (1882–1998), Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, 29 vols., 's-Gravenhage / Leiden: Nijhoff / Sijthoff / SDU; supplement 2001; gtb.ivdnt.org
4. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
5. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
6. ^ Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
8. ^ a b c Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
9. ^ a b c d e f Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
10. ^ a b Sterkenburg, P. G. J. van (2001), Vloeken: een cultuurbepaalde reactie op woede, irritatie en frustratie, 2nd ed., Den Haag: Sdu
11. ^ a b Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
12. ^ WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
13. ^ Weijnen, A. A. (2003), Etymologisch dialectwoordenboek, 2nd ed., Den Haag: Sdu