lustre

See also: lustré

English

Metallic lustre of hematite

Vitreous lustre of amethyst

Chandelier decorated with glass lustres dangling below

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlʌstə/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌstə

Etymology 1

From Middle French lustre. See luster (etymology 1).

Noun

lustre (countable and uncountable, plural lustres)

1. (British spelling) Alternative form of luster (shine, etc.)
2. (geology) The way in which the surface of any particular type of mineral reflects light differently from other minerals, which is helpful in telling minerals apart.

   Various kinds of minerals differ in their lustre; iron pyrites are described as having a metallic lustre, glassy materials a vitreous lustre; others, such as opal, look resinous, and the lustres of yet others are described as being either pearly, or silky, or dull, like earth.

3. A glass ornament such as a prism or cut glass dangling beneath a chandelier; usually in clusters or festoons.
   • 2013, Shena Mackay, Redhill Rococo, →ISBN:

     ...he went out through the unfamiliar hall, setting the chandelier clashing its dusty lustres with his hand, leaving a prismatic jangle behind him in the empty house.

5. (dated) A chandelier, particularly one decorated with glass lustres.
   • 1838, John Henry Brady, A new pocket guide to London and its environs‎^[1]:

     In the centre is painted an eagle, from whose beak an elegant glass lustre chandelier is suspended. There are also ten smaller chandeliers in different parts of the room.

   • 1889, anonymous author, The Journal of Gas Lighting, Water Supply & Sanitary Improvement‎^[2]:

     On the ground floor, the library (a room in carved oak) is lighted by a lustre composed of twelve regenerative burners enclosed in tinted glasses.

Antonyms

• dullness
• lacklustre

Derived terms

• lustreware

Related terms

• lustrous

Translations

luster — see luster

Verb

lustre (third-person singular simple present lustres, present participle lustring, simple past and past participle lustred)

1. (British spelling) Alternative form of luster

Translations

luster — see luster

Etymology 2

From Middle English lustre, from Latin lustrum, from Old Latin *loustrom, of uncertain origin. More at lustrum.

Noun

lustre (plural lustres)

1. (British spelling) Alternative form of luster: A 5-year period, especially (historical) in Roman contexts.

Etymology 3

From Latin lustra (“wilds, woods”), thought to derive from unattested *dustrum, from unattested Ancient Greek *δύστρον (*dústron, “place animals wallow”), from δύω (dúō, “to plunge, to wallow”).

Noun

lustre (plural lustres)

1. (British spelling, obsolete) Alternative form of luster: a den, a dwelling-place in a wilderness, especially for animals.

References

• “lustre”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Luster, Ulster, lurest, luster, luters, result, rulest, rustle, sutler, truels, ulster

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lustrum. Doublet of llustre and llostre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈlus.tɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈlus.tɾe]

Noun

lustre m (plural lustres)

1. lustrum (period of five years)

Related terms

• llustre

Further reading

• “lustre” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lystʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin lūstrum (“purification celebrated every few years; a period of five or four years”).

Noun

lustre m (plural lustres)

1. (literary) lustrum; period of five years
2. (figuratively; chiefly in the plural) a very long time, an eternity

   Synonyms: éternité, (informal) plombes, (informal) belle lurette

   Ça fait des lustres que je ne t’ai pas vu ! ― I haven't seen you in ages!

Usage notes

• Larousse considers all senses of this word as literary, but only that of "five years" is marked as such by Le Robert and Trésor.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian lustro.

Noun

lustre m (plural lustres)

1. lustre, chandelier
2. gloss, shine, lustre

Related terms

• lustrage
• lustrer
• lustrine

Descendants

• → Persian: لوستر (lustr)
• Russian: лю́стра f (ljústra)
• Polish: lustro n

Italian

Adjective

lustre f pl

1. feminine plural of lustro

Middle French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian lustro.

Noun

lustre m (plural lustres)

1. lustre; shine

Portuguese

lustre

Etymology 1

From French lustre.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈlus.tɾi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈlus.tɾi/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈluʃ.tɾi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈlus.tɾe/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈluʃ.tɾɨ/

• Hyphenation: lus‧tre

Noun

lustre m (plural lustres)

1. chandelier

Etymology 2

Verb

lustre

1. inflection of lustrar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlustɾe/ [ˈlus.t̪ɾe]
• Rhymes: -ustɾe
• Syllabification: lus‧tre

Etymology 1

From either French lustre or Catalan llustre, from Italian lustro, derived from the verb lustrare. A French or Catalan intermediate is likely due to the change in the final vowel, typical of borrowings that are ultimately early Italianisms before the 16th century. Not attested in Old Spanish; first attested in Nebrija.

Noun

lustre m (plural lustres)

1. lustre, shine

   el lustre de mis zapatos, del metal, de los minerales

   the shine of my shoes, of the metal, of minerals

   • 1495, Antonio de Nebrija, Vocabulario español-latino :

     Blanquear dando lustre. candifico .as.

     To whiten giving lustre: candificō, -ās.

Derived terms

• azúcar de lustre

 

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

lustre

1. inflection of lustrar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “lustre”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28
• Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1984) “lustre”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critic Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), volume III (G–Ma), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, pages 717-718