English
lust
Lust comes from Old English lust ‘lust, pleasure, longing’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *lustuz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lustuz‘lust, desire, want’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lustu‘desire, want, lust’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lust‘lust, pleasure, longing’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1521same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lustuz‘lust, desire, want’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lustu‘desire, want, lust’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lust‘lust, pleasure, longing’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1521same form
Earliest quotation: 1521, John Skelton, Speke Parott; republished in John Scattergood: “Pompe, pryde, honour, ryches, and wordly lust, / Parrot…”
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *lustuz ‘lust, desire, want’
Another origin of lust
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lusten
- Englishtodaylust
Today it means
noun A feeling of strong desire, especially such a feeling driven by sexual arousal.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *lustuz / lust