Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Soft reflected light; sheen.
  • noun Brilliance or radiance of light; brightness.
  • noun Glory, radiance, distinction, or splendor, as of achievement, reputation, or beauty.
  • noun A glass pendant, especially on a chandelier.
  • noun A decorative object, such as a chandelier, that gives off light.
  • noun Any of various substances, such as wax or glaze, used to give an object a gloss or polish.
  • noun The surface glossiness of ceramic ware after glazing, especially the metallic sheen of lusterware.
  • noun A fabric having a glossy surface.
  • noun The appearance of a mineral surface judged by its brilliance and ability to reflect light.
  • intransitive verb To give a gloss, glaze, or sheen to.
  • intransitive verb To give or add glory, radiance, distinction, or splendor to.
  • intransitive verb To be or become lustrous.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who lusts; one inflamed with lust.
  • noun The den or abode of a wild beast.
  • noun Same as lustrum.
  • noun A material applied to the surface of something in order to produce a lustrous appearance.
  • noun In ceramics, a metallic glaze containing gold applied to pottery or porcelain.
  • To impart luster or gloss to.
  • noun The quality of shining; brilliancy or refulgence, from inherent constitution or artificial polish; splendor; glow; sheen; gloss: as, the luster of the stars, or of gold.
  • noun In mineralogy, a variation in the nature of the reflecting surface of minerals.
  • noun The state or quality of being illustrious or famous; brilliant distinction; brilliancy, as of a person, a deed, an event, or the like.
  • noun A branched candelabrum or chandelier or namented with prisms or pendants of glass.
  • noun The quality of glossiness or brilliancy in a textile material or in a finished fabric: as, the luster of wool or of satin.
  • noun A thin and light kind of poplin.
  • noun Synonyms Refulgence.
  • noun Glory, celebrity.
  • noun 1 and Effulgence, Brilliance, etc. See radiance.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb R. & Poetic To make lustrous.
  • noun A period of five years; a lustrum.
  • noun Brilliancy; splendor; brightness; glitter.
  • noun Renown; splendor; distinction; glory.
  • noun A candlestick, chandelier, girandole, or the like, generally of an ornamental character.
  • noun (Min.) The appearance of the surface of a mineral as affected by, or dependent upon, peculiarities of its reflecting qualities.
  • noun A substance which imparts luster to a surface, as graphite and some of the glazes.
  • noun A fabric of wool and cotton with a lustrous surface, -- used for women's dresses.
  • noun earthenware decorated by applying to the glazing metallic oxides, which acquire brilliancy in the process of baking.
  • noun One who lusts.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US Shine, polish or sparkle.
  • noun By extension, brilliance, attractiveness or splendor.
  • noun Refinement, polish or quality.
  • verb intransitive To gleam, have luster
  • verb transitive To give luster, distinguish
  • verb transitive To give a coating or other treatment to impart physical luster
  • noun A lustrum, quinquennium, a period of five years, originally the interval between Roman censuses
  • noun One who lusts.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a quality that outshines the usual
  • noun the visual property of something that shines with reflected light
  • noun a surface coating for ceramics or porcelain

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French lustre, from Old French, from Old Italian lustro, from lustrare, to make bright, from Latin lūstrāre, from lūstrum, purification; see leuk- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French lustre, from Old Italian lustro, from Latin lustrare ("to brighten"), akin to lux ("light")

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin lustrum, from lustrare, cognate with the above

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

lust +‎ -er

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Examples

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  • Also lustre.

    June 4, 2010