luxury
(ˈlʌksjʊərɪ, ˈlʌkʃərɪ, ˈlʌgʒərɪ)
Also 4–7 luxurie.
[a. OF. luxurie, ad. L. luxuria, f. luxu-s abundance, sumptuous enjoyment. Cf. F. luxure (whence luxure), Sp. luj{uacu}ria, It. lussuria.
In Lat. and in the Rom. langs. the word connotes vicious indulgence, the neutral senses of the Eng. ‘luxury’ being expressed by L. luxus, F. luxe, Sp. lujo, It. lusso.]
† 1. Lasciviousness, lust; pl. lusts. Obs.
| 1340 Ayenb. 157 Þe dyeuel..assayletþ..þane sanguinien mid ioliuete and mid luxurie. c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 827 O foule lust of luxurie. c 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 58 Leude touchinge and handelyng..makithe..folke falle into orible synne of luxurie. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 234 Therewithal he doth inclusiuely vnderstand all kindes of lust and luxurie. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. ii. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 96 Mellida is light, And stained with adulterous luxury. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 89 The ashes of the claws with that of the skinne, being applied helpe luxury in man or woman. 1728 Morgan Algiers I. v. 163 To say nothing of the Luxury and Debaucheries which reigned in the Camps, which he describes as the filthiest of Brothels. 1812 Crabbe Tales, Squire & Priest (1814) II. 91 Grov'lling in the sty..of shameless luxury. |
† 2. = luxuriance.
Obs.| c 1611 Chapman Iliad xxi. 262 Where now weake waters luxurie Must make my death blush. 1692 Ray Disc. ii. (1732) 108 Wonderful Fertility and Luxury of the Soil. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth v. (1723) 262 The Luxury and Superabundance of the Productions of the Earth. |
3. The habitual use of, or indulgence in what is choice or costly, whether food, dress, furniture, or appliances of any kind.
| 1633 P. Fletcher Elisa i. xxv, I never knew or want or luxurie..or base-bred flatterie. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 711 All now was turn'd to jollitie and game, To luxurie and riot, feast and dance. 1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Mar 10 Mar. II. xliv. 19 The piece of luxury that grieved my eyes was the table-cloth and napkins. 1755 Young Centaur ii. Wks. 1757 IV. 134 On the soft beds of luxury most kingdoms have expired. 1791–1823 D'Israeli Cur. Lit. (1858) III. 400 Luxury is the cure of that unavoidable evil in society—great inequality of fortune! a 1832 Bentham Man. Pol. Econ. Wks. 1843 III. 37 Luxury is..an inseparable accompaniment to opulence. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt (1868) 17, I suppose you have been used to great luxury. 1891 Cheyne Orig. Psalter iv. ii. 167 The increase of luxury produced a similar current of song in ancient Palestine. |
4. transf. Refined and intense enjoyment.
| 1715 Garth Claremont in Dryden's Miscell. Poems vi. (1727) 255 Hard was their Lodging, homely was their Food; For all their Luxury was doing Good. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vii. v, She indulged herself..in all the luxury of tender grief. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 22 And learn the luxury of doing good. 1805 Foster Ess. i. i. 1 Those who do not seek..the luxury of pensiveness. 1810 D. Stewart Philos. Ess. ii. Ess. i. vi. 299 Hence, to a botanist, the luxury of a garden. 1869 Eadie Galat. 45 The enlightenment of the apostle was not for his own individual luxury. |
5. a. quasi-
concr. Means of luxurious enjoyment; sumptuous and exquisite food or surroundings.
| 1704 Addison Italy (1705) 475 He has cut the Side of the Rock into a Flat for a Garden, and..has made such a Spot of Ground of it as furnishes out a kind of Luxury for a Hermite. 1759 Johnson Rasselas ii, He often sat before tables covered with luxury. 1851 Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 200 Preserved fruits..representing those articles of luxury removed by their character and costliness out of the ordinary category of human food. |
b. In particularized sense: Something which conduces to enjoyment or comfort in addition to what are accounted the necessaries of life. Hence, in recent use, something which is desirable but not indispensable.
| 1780 Bentham Princ. Legisl. xviii. §17 note, Necessaries come always before luxuries. 1833 H. Martineau Briery Creek iv. 75 He buys a new luxury which will yield no good beyond his own selfish pleasure. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 267 A coach and six was a fashionable luxury. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 99 A reredos is a luxury. 1878 Jevons Prim. Pol. Econ. 21 That which is spent in early life upon mere luxuries and frivolities. 1902 Fortn. Rev. June 1006 The most expensive of luxuries in London is to keep clean. |
6. abstr. Luxuriousness; abundance of appliances for comfort.
| 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 267 The brilliancy of the shops and the luxury of the private dwellings far surpasses anything that England could then show. 1863 W. G. Blaikie Better Days Work. People i. (1864) 8 Such luxury as shall tempt them to forget that they are but strangers and pilgrims here. |
7. attrib., as
luxury coach,
luxury cruise,
luxury duty,
luxury edition,
luxury flat,
luxury liner,
luxury shop,
luxury tax,
luxury trade.
Comb., as
luxury-loving adj.| 1936 O. Lancaster Progress at Pelvis Bay 61 As many as fifty or sixty..luxury coaches leave daily from the square. 1941 N. Coward Australia Visited i. 5 Society ladies returning home exhausted after a lightning luxury cruise. 1971 E. Candy Words for Murder Perhaps iv. 50 The drug pusher, the criminal classes. You don't get that sort of person in good hotels or on luxury cruises. |
| 1904 Hansard Commons 19 Apr. 564 An article of luxury which might very fairly pay a luxury duty. 1930 T. E. Lawrence Lett. (1938) 709 We must do our best to get the whole of the luxury edition placed before the date of publication. 1937 Night & Day 9 Dec. 12 Luxury flat. A story by K. K. Busvine. 1939 O. Lancaster Homes Sweet Homes 66 The luxury flat..is divided up with fiendish ingenuity into a dining-room, drawing-room, lounge-hall, three bed, two bath, a kitchen and all the usual offices. 1958 New Statesman 5 Apr. 439/2 A luxury-flat developer..instructed his architects to do neo-Georgian. |
| 1934 G. B. Shaw Too True to be Good Pref. 11 The rich tourists in the palace hotels and luxury liners. 1947 L. MacNeice Dark Tower 50, I followed you—but not on a luxury liner. Mine was a cargo boat. 1959 N. Marsh Singing in Shrouds iii. 38 A luxury liner and organised fun would be more his cup-of-tea. |
| 1899 ‘Mark Twain’ in Forum Mar. 32 We are..the most luxury-loving people on the earth. 1927 H. Waddell Wandering Scholars i. 25 It was an apple-orchard in blossom to his luxury-loving, exquisite and peaceful soul. 1962 H. R. Loyn Anglo-Saxon Eng. ii. 69 The gold coinage, papyrus, fine stuffs and spices point to the existence of a luxury-loving aristocracy. |
| 1935 N. Mitchison We have been Warned iv. 349 Turning..to Mayfair, they began to pass the discreet and rather impressive luxury shops. 1973 S. Jackman Guns covered with Flowers vi. 74 The luxury shops and the department stores. |
| 1904 Hansard Commons 19 Apr. 564 The luxury tax at that time was 6d. 1974 R. Jeffries Mistakenly in Mallorca xiii. 122 The large cars on national or tourist plates whose owners were not forced to pay the luxury taxes that all Spaniards had to. |
| 1905 Westm. Gaz. 9 Jan. 3/1 Their action deprives of employment persons who were..employed in luxury trades. 1966 G. Greene Comedians i. iii. 84, I can see great possibilities of improvement. My mother was not catering for the luxury-trade. |