Etymograph

English

lustrate

Lustrate comes from Latin lustrātus ‘lustrated’, from lustrō ‘purify’, and ultimately from Old Latin *loustrom.

  1. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCE*loustromreconstructedearlier origin unknown
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElūstrum‘a purificatory sacrifice’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElustrō‘purify’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElustrātus‘lustrated’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1650lustrate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCE*loustromreconstructedearlier origin unknown
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElūstrum‘a purificatory sacrifice’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElustrō‘purify’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElustrātus‘lustrated’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1650lustrate

Earliest quotation: c. 1650, Henry Hammond, Miscellaneous Theological Works...: “We must purge, and cleanse, and lustrate the whole…”

The story

In reference to imparting luster, further via senses of Middle French lustre, from Old Italian lustro.

Linked words

through Latin lustrō ‘purify’

illustration, illustrious, luster, 3 more

Today it means

verb Synonym of purify, to ritually cleanse or renew, particularly to do so with a propitiatory offering or (historical) the lustration, quinquennial ritual of the Roman censor to cleanse the city after a census.

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

Etymograph / Old Latin *loustrom / lustrate

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