lustral, a. and n.
(ˈlʌstrəl)
[ad. L. lūstrāl-is, f. lūstr-um lustrum.]
A. adj.
1. Pertaining to the Roman lustrum or purificatory sacrifice; hence, pertaining to, of the nature of, or used in rites of purification; purificatory.
| 1533 Bellenden Livy iii. vii. (S.T.S.) 270 Þe capitoll was purgit be þe Sacrifice lustrale. 1677 Gilpin Demonol. (1867) 194 He [Julian] caused their meats and drinks to be sprinkled or mixed with the lustral water. 1776 Gibbon Decl. & F. I. Notes xv. p. lxviii, The assistants were sprinkled with lustral water. 1783 T. Wilson Archæol. Dict., Lustral day, or dies lustricus amongst the Romans, was the day on which lustrations were performed for a child, and the name given. 1851 Layard Pop. Acc. Discov. Nineveh x. 251 Copper lustral spoons. 1853 Merivale Rom. Rep. iv. (1867) 133 The assassin..coolly washed his hands in the lustral waters of a neighbouring temple. 1862 Rawlinson Anc. Mon. I. vi. 480 A lustral Ewer. 1874 H. R. Reynolds John Bapt. v. §2. 278 The Hindu worship has always consisted largely in lustral rites. |
2. Occurring every five years; quinquennial.
| 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xviii. II. 71 As this general tax upon industry was collected every fourth year, it was stiled the Lustral Contribution. 1880 Muirhead Ulpian i. §8 The lustral census in Rome. |
† B. n. A lustrum or period of five years. Obs.
| a 1656 Ussher Ann. (1658) 807 When to this time five lustrals I had seen. |