Etymograph

English

lour

Lour comes from Middle English louren ‘to frown or scowl’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500louren‘to frown or scowl’
  2. Englishearliest quotation c. 1593lour

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500louren‘to frown or scowl’
  2. Englishearliest quotation c. 1593lour

Earliest quotation: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. […] (First Quarto): “Now is the winter of our diſcontent, Made glorious…”

The story

The verb is derived from Middle English louren, lour, loure (‘to frown or scowl; to be dark or overcast; to droop, fade, wither; to lurk, skulk’), probably from Old English *lūran, *lūrian, from Proto-Germanic *lūraną (‘to lie in wait, lurk’). The English word is cognate with Danish lure (‘to lie in ambush; to take a nap’), Middle Dutch loeren (modern Dutch loeren (‘to lurk, spy on’)), Middle Low German lûren (‘to lie in ambush’), German Low German luren (‘to lurk’), Middle High German lūren (‘to lie in ambush’) (modern German lauern (‘to lie in ambush; to lurk’)), Icelandic lúra (‘to take a nap’), Saterland Frisian luurje (‘to lie in wait’), West Frisian loere (‘to lurk’), and Swedish lura (‘to lie in ambush; to deceive, fool, trick; to lure; to take a nap’); and is related to lurk.

Every English word from Middle English louren

Today it means

verb To frown; to look sullen.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Middle English louren / lour

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