LUSTER

luster, lustre

(noun) a surface coating for ceramics or porcelain

shininess, sheen, luster, lustre

(noun) the visual property of something that shines with reflected light

luster, lustre, brilliancy, splendor, splendour

(noun) a quality that outshines the usual

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

luster (countable and uncountable, plural lusters) (American spelling)

Shine, polish or sparkle.

By extension, brilliance, attractiveness or splendor.

Refinement, polish or quality.

A candlestick, chandelier, girandole, etc. generally of an ornamental character.

A substance that imparts lustre to a surface, such as plumbago or a glaze.

Lusterware.

A fabric of wool and cotton with a lustrous surface, used for women's dresses.

Antonyms

• (brilliance): dullness

Verb

luster (third-person singular simple present lusters, present participle lustering, simple past and past participle lustered) (American spelling)

(intransitive) To gleam, have luster.

(transitive) To give luster, distinguish.

(transitive) To give a coating or other treatment to impart physical luster.

Etymology 2

Noun

luster (plural lusters)

A lustrum, quinquennium, a period of five years, originally the interval between Roman censuses.

Etymology 3

Noun

luster (plural lusters)

One who lusts.

Anagrams

• Ulster, lurest, lustre, luters, result, rulest, rustle, sutler, truels, ulster

Source: Wiktionary


Lust"er, n.

Definition: One who lusts.

Lus"ter Lus"tre, n. Etym: [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]

Definition: A period of five years; a lustrum. Both of us have closed the tenth luster. Bolingbroke.

Lus"ter, Lus"tre, n. Etym: [F. lustre; cf. It. lustro; both fr. L. lustrare to purify, go about (like the priests at the lustral sacrifice), traverse, survey, illuminate, fr. lustrum a purificatory sacrifice; perh. akin to E. loose. But lustrare to illuminate is perh. a different word, and akin to L. lucere to be light or clear, to shine. See Lucid, and cf. Illustrious, Lustrum.]

1. Brilliancy; splendor; brightness; glitter. The right mark and very true luster of the diamond. Sir T. More. The scorching sun was mounted high, In all its luster, to the noonday sky. Addison.

Note: There is a tendency to limit the use of luster, in this sense, to the brightness of things which do not shine with their own light, or at least do not blaze or glow with heat. One speaks of the luster of a diamond, or of silk, or even of the stars, but not often now of the luster of the sun, a coal of fire, or the like.

2. Renown; splendor; distinction; glory. His ancestors continued about four hundred years, rather without obscurity than with any great luster. Sir H. Wotton.

3. A candlestick, chandelier, girandole, or the like, generally of an ornamental character. Pope.

4. (Min.)

Definition: The appearance of the surface of a mineral as affected by, or dependent upon, peculiarities of its reflecting qualities.

Note: The principal kinds of luster recognized are: metallic, adamantine, vitreous, resinous, greasy, pearly, and silky. With respect to intensity, luster is characterized as splendent, shining, glistening, glimmering, and dull.

5. A substance which imparts luster to a surface, as plumbago and some of the glazes.

6. A fabric of wool and cotton with a lustrous surface, -- used for women's dresses. Luster ware, earthenware decorated by applying to the glazing metallic oxides, which acquire brilliancy in the process of baking.

Lus"ter, Lus"tre, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lustred; p. pr. & vb. n. Lustering, or Lustring.]

Definition: To make lustrous. [R. & Poetic] Flooded and lustered with her loosened gold. Lowell.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 December 2024

QUANDONG

(noun) Australian tree having hard white timber and glossy green leaves with white flowers followed by one-seeded glossy blue fruit


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Coffee Trivia

An article published in Harvard Menโ€™s Health Watch in 2012 shows heavy coffee drinkers live longer. The researchers examined data from 400,000 people and found out that men who drank six or more coffee cups per day had a 10% lower death rate.

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