lucre English · revision 1395

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈluːkə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈluːkɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|fro|lucre]],^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|la|lucrum|t=gain, profit]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) which is probably related to Old English ''lēan'' “reward” and German ''Lohn''.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[lucrative]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Illicit gain, and also monetary gain or profit (about 1390).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word had a bad sense from the start: Latin ''lucrum'' also meant “avarice”, and Middle English ''lucre'' could mean illicit gain.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995) William Tyndale's rendering of Greek ''aiskhron kerdos'' as ''filthy lucre'' in Titus 1:11 fixed its unfavourable tone.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The OED notes that it is now used only with this unfavourable implication.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 1380 – gain, profit.^(OED 1989)

+ * about 1390 – illicit gain.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1570 – verb, to make gain, now rare.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Money or profit, especially regarded as degrading or as the object of [[greed]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[filthy lucre]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lucrative]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}