▪ I. lust, n.
(lʌst)
Also 3 Orm. lusst, 4 lost(e, 4–7 luste.
[Common Teut.: OE. lust masc. corresponds to OFris. lust masc., OS. lust fem. (MDu., Du. lust masc.), OHG. lust fem. (MHG. lust masc. and fem., mod.G. lust fem.), Goth. lustu-s masc.:—O.Teut. *lustu-z, prob. repr. a pre-Teut. *{ldotbl}s-tu-s, f. the zero-grade of the root *las- to long for, occurring in Gr. λιλαί-εσθαι (:—*li-lasy-), Skr. laṣ (:—*la-ls, a reduplicated form); the suffix -tu- forms nouns of action from verbal roots.
Cf. ON. loste wk. masc. (MSw. luste, loste), Da. lyst, mod.Icel. lyst (see list n.), which are cognate and synonymous, but differ in declension. The mod.Sw. lust has been assimilated in form to the Ger. word.]
† 1. Pleasure, delight. Const. in, to, unto. (Sometimes coupled with liking.) Obs.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxiv. §3 Þa sæde he [Epicurus] {thbar} se lust wære {thbar} hehste good. c 1275 Luue Ron 93 in O.E. Misc. 96 He [Jesus] is feyr and bryht on heowe..Of lufsum lost of truste treowe. 1340 Ayenb. 92 Of zuyche blisse and of zuyche loste no liknesse..ne may by yuounde..ine lostes of þe wordle. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 2 Sone, have mynde how þou haddist lust in this lyfe, and Lazar peyne. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xi. x. 587 Allas my swete sones..for your sakes I shalle lese my lykynge and lust. a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 222 Whan we kys and play, In lust and in lykyng. c 1580 Sidney Ps. xxii. v, Let God save hym in whom was all his lust. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1384 Gazing vppon the Greekes with little lust. 1607 ― Timon iv. iii. 492. |
† b. pl. Pleasures.
Obs.| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke viii. 14 Þa ðe..of carum..& of lustum þiss lifes synt for-þrysmede. 1340 Ayenb. 72 Þer hy habbeþ..hire solas, hire blisse, and hire confort, and alle hire lostes. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 581 My lyf, my lustes be me lothe. 1382 Wyclif 2 Tim. iii. 4 Loueris of lustis [Vulg. voluptatum amatores] more than of God. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3317 All your ledys..[shal] lyue in þis lond with lustes at ease. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 213 This es it to luffe paramoures, and lustis [v.r. listes] and litys. |
c. quasi-
concr. A source of pleasure or delight;
† an attraction, charm (
obs.).
poet.| 1390 Gower Conf. I. 46 O Venus,..Thou lif, thou lust, thou mannes hele. Ibid. II. 46 In kertles and in Copes riche Thei weren clothed..With alle lustes that eche knew Thei were enbrouded overal. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. lxv, Our lyf, oure lust, oure gouernoure, oure quene. 1549–62 Sternhold & H. Ps. lxii. 7 God is my glory and my health, my soules desire and lust. |
† d. Liking, friendly inclination
to a person.
Obs.| c 1430 Freemasonry 506 For they were werkemen of the beste, The emperour hade to them gret luste. 1535 Coverdale Num. xiv. 8 Yf the Lorde haue lust vnto vs [1611 If the Lord delight in vs]. |
† 2. Desire, appetite, relish or inclination for something. Const.
of;
to (with
n. or inf.). Sometimes joined with
leisure (
cf. list n.4 2).
Obs. Now merged in the stronger use 5 (influenced by 4).
| a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. v. xiii. [xii.] (1890) 436 Mid unᵹes⁓wencedlice luste heofonlicra gode. c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 86 Him wæs metes micel lust. a 1225 Ancr. R. 118 Þeo hwule þæt te lust is hot toward eni sunne. 1340 Ayenb. 253 Þe oþer stape is þet me zette mesure ine þe loste and mid þe likinge of þe wille. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxviii. 285, I hadde no lust to go to tho parties. 1470–85 Malory Arthur vi. i, The weder was hote about noone, and syre launcelot had grete lust to slepe. 15.. Frere & Boye 56 in Ritson Anc. Pop. Poet. 37 Hys dyner forth he drough: Whan he sawe it was but bad, Ful lytell lust thereto he had. 1528 Tindale Obed. Chr. Man To Rdr. 4 b, Yf we thurst, his [God's] trueth shall fulfill oure luste. 1530 Palsgr. 580/2, I have nothing so good luste to my worke as I had yesterdaye. 1570 Foxe Serm. 2 Cor. v, Ep. Ded. A iiij, Men wholy geuen ouer to worldly studyes haue litle leysure, and lesse lust, either to heare Sermons or to read bookes. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Burn Pestle i. iii, If you would consider your state, you would haue little lust to sing, I wisse. 1627 W. Sclater Exp. 2 Thess. (1629) 276, I have neither lust nor leasure to enter the question. |
† b. with indefinite article.
Obs.| 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 23360, I had a lust..for to holden my passage. 1528 Paynel Salerne's Regim. (1535) 11 b, No man ought to eate but after he hath a luste. 1530 Palsgr. 616/1, I have a luste to gyve you a blowe on the cheke. 1549–62 Sternhold & H. Ps. lxxi. (1566) 167 From my youth I had a lust Stil to depend on thee. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 161 Such as did seeke the Glory of Martyrs..out of a lust of dying. |
† c. (One's) desire or wish; (one's) good pleasure. Phr.
at (after) one's lust.
Obs.| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John i. 13 Ðaðe ne of blodum ne of uillo vel of lust lichomæs ne from uillo vel lust [weres] ah Gode ᵹecened sint. a 1300 Cursor M. 2899 Sua ferr your lust yee foln noght, Þat yee for-gete him þat yow wroght. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1620 Weepe now na more, I wol thy lust fulfille. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8852 All the pepull to pyne put and dethe at oure lust? c 1450 Merlin 268 Whan he was all to brosed and hym diffouled at her lust saf thei haue hym not slain. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xci. 11 Myne eye also shal se his lust of myne enemies. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 18 If by the law of your lust, you account me a craftie..felow. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 59 Wil thy Father..giue thee libertie to lyue after thine owne lust? 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. iv. 134 When I am hence, Ile answer to my lust. 1677 Sedley Ant. & Cl. i. 5 The Valiant cannot board, nor Coward fly, But at the lust of the unconstant Sky. |
† d. = longing vbl. n.1 2.
Obs.| 1530 Palsgr. 241/2 Luste as women with chylde have. |
3. spec. in Biblical and Theological use: Sensuous appetite or desire, considered as sinful or leading to sin. Often
pl. esp. in
the lusts of the flesh,
fleshly lusts.
| a 1000 Juliana 409 Him sylfum selle þynceð leahtras to fremman ofer lof godes lices lustas. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 29 Ðre þing beð þat mankin heuieð. On is þe selue lust, oðer is iuel lehtres. Ðe þridde flesliche lustes. c 1230 Hali Meid. 3 Pricunges of fleschliche fulðen to licomliche lustes. a 1400 Cursor M. 28749 (Cott. Galba) Fasting and gude bisines gers a man fle lustes of fless. 1526 Tindale 1 John ii. 16 All that is in the worlde (as the lust of the flesshe, the lust of the eyes, and the pryde of gooddes). 1604 Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 335 We haue Reason to coole our raging Motions, our carnall Strings, or vnbitted Lusts. 1641 Wilkins Math. Magick i. i. (1648) 2 Which set a man at liberty from his lusts and passions. 1857 Maurice Ep. St. John viii. 130 These sensual pleasures, these gods of our creation, these lusts which we are feeding. 1900 J. Watson in Expositor Sept. 193 This world with its pride and its riches and its lust and its glitter must pass away. |
4. Sexual appetite or desire. Chiefly and now exclusively implying intense moral reprobation: Libidinous desire, degrading animal passion. (The chief current use.)
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 358 Weres wylla to ᵹefremmanne nime bares geallan & smyre mid þone teors & þa hærþan þonne hafað he mycelne lust. a 1100 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 524/34 Ueneris, lustes. a 1300 Cursor M. 26254 Man þat menges him wit best for his flexs lust to ful-fill. c 1315 Shoreham Poems i. 1981 Ne stren may nou encressy Wyþ-oute flesches loste. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) iv. 27 The grete lust that he had to hire. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1563 Thou deemest luste and love convertible. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 800 Loue comforteth, like sun-shine after raine, But lusts effect is tempest after sunne. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 82 Cats,..in the time of their lust (commonly called ‘catwralling’),..are wilde and fierce, especially the males. a 1635 Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 15 He never spared man in his anger, nor woman in his lust. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 1015 In Lust they burne; Till Adam thus 'gan Eve to dalliance move. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 637 Wine urg'd to lawless Lust the Centaurs Train. a 1704 T. Brown Sat. agst. Wom. Wks. 1730 I. 56 We need not rake the brothel and the stews, To see what various scenes of lust they use. 1756 Burke Subl. & B. i. x, The passion which belongs to generation, merely as such, is lust only. 1855 Tennyson Maud ii. i. ii, The feeble vassals of wine and anger and lust. |
5. In
mod. rhetorical use (with some transferred notion of sense 4): Lawless and passionate desire
of or
for some object. In poetry sometimes without implied reprobation: Overmastering desire (
esp. of battle).
| 1678–9 Dryden & Lee Œdipus iv. i, He, who brings him forth, shall have reward Beyond ambition's lust. 1699 Cibber Xerxes 11, The neighing Steeds too foam and champ,..and show a noble Lust of War. 1760 Sterne Serm. xi. Wks. 1815 III. 118 The insatiate lust of being witty. 1786 W. Thomson Watson's Philip III (1839) 238 The monarch was governed by a lust of power. a 1797 H. Walpole Mem. Geo. III (1845) II. xii. 274 It appeared that he felt nothing really but the lust of applause. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. viii. 660 The very lust of pleasing the men on whose favour..their prosperity..depends. 1857 Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art 12 A mean lust of accumulation. 1865 Kingsley Herew. vii, He felt the lust of battle tingling in his veins. 1868 C. M. Yonge Cameos I. xxxiv. 293 From the time Edward I gave way to the lust of conquest, his history is one of painful deterioration. |
† 6. Vigour, lustiness; fertility (of soil).
Obs.| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. viii. (1495) 54 To restore the luste bothe in plantes and in beestes. 1521 Fisher Serm. agst. Luther Wks. (1876) 323 No lust of grenenes nor of lyfe appereth. c 1540 J. Heywood Four P.P. (Copland) D j b, I left her in good helthe and luste. a 1591 R. Greenham Serm. i. (1599) 96 It putteth life and lust into vs,..to doe all those good workes which may glorifie God. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. iv. §5. 19 Being as a plant that cometh of the lust of the earth without a formal seed. c 1616 S. Ward Coal from Altar (1627) 9 As courage to the souldier, mettle to the horse, lust to the ground. 1626 Bacon Sylva §442 The increasing the Lust of the Earth or of the Plant. 1648 Hunting of Fox 5 The Vine..springs not up..out of the lust and fatnesse of the earth. 1682 Weekly Mem. Ingen. 44 The Salt and Lime together contribute some warmth, as well as lust and heat, to the Seed, and help the defect of other manure. |
7. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple
attrib., as
lust-bed,
lust-fiend,
lust-itch,
lust-pandar,
lust-storm;
b. objective, instrumental, etc., as
lust-baiting,
lust-belepered,
lust-blind,
lust-born,
† lust-breathed,
lust-burned,
lust-burning,
lust-cankered,
lust-dieted,
lust-engendered,
lust-fired,
lust-greedy,
lust-grown,
lust-stained,
lust-stung,
lust-tempting,
lust-wearied adjs.;
c. special comb., as
† lust-garden [after G.
lust-garten,
Du. lustgaard], a pleasure-garden;
† lust-wort, Gerarde's
transl. of the
Du. name of the Round-leaved Sundew,
Drosera rotundifolia.
| 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie i. iii. 181 Taynting our Townes and hopefull Academes With your *lust-bating most abhorred meanes. |
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 77 Þe heuenliche leche seinte poul..rere us of ure fule *lust bedde. |
| 1633 Ford 'Tis Pity iv. iii, I'le drag Thy *lust be-leapred body through the dust. |
| 1600 Rowlands Letting Humours Blood xv. 21 This *lustblind Louer's vaine. |
| 1887 Browning F. Furini iii, *Lust-born His Eve low bending took the privilege Of life. |
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 3 *Lust-breathed Tarqvin leaues the Roman host. |
| 1613 Heywood Silver Age iii. Wks. 1874 III. 143 The *lust-burn'd and wine-heated monsters. |
| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. vi. 1108 Oft two Creatures of a divers kinde,..Confounding their *lust-burning seeds together, Beget an Elf, not like in all to either. |
| 1608 Machin Dumb Knt. iii. i. F 3 b, The putrefied sores Of these *lust-cankered great ones. |
| 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. i. 70 The superfluous, and *Lust-dieted man, That slaues your ordinance. |
| 1633 Ford Love's Sacr. iv. ii, To hew your *lust ingendred flesh to shreds. |
| 1609 Markham Famous Whore (1868) 19 To breede in them this *lust-feind iealousie. |
| 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie i. iii. 175 Like a swaggerer, *lust fiered. 1616 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. iii. 79 Walla..Was by a lust-fir'd Satyre 'mong our bowres Well-neere surpriz'd. |
| 1873 E. Brennan Witch of Nemi 155 Purge my *lust-fretted soul of its remorse. |
| 1589 Troubl. Trav. Tyme 10 The Paradise, or *Lust-garden of the Lord. |
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. Furies 786 Like *Lust-greedy Goates. |
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (1590) 302 A..*lust-growne rage. |
| 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie i. iv. 189 Marry Alcides thirteenth act must lend A glorious period, and his *lust-itch end. |
| Ibid. i. ii. 175 Ioues *lust-Pandar, Maias iuggling sonne. |
| 1604 Shakes. Oth. v. i. 36 Thy Bed *lust-stain'd, shall with Lusts blood bee spotted. |
| 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. iv. Captains 1125 Hurried with passion's windes Whither their *Lust-storms do transport their minds. |
| 1597 Bp. Hall Sat. i. ix. 22 Some *lust-stung letcher. |
| 1601 Munday Death Earl Huntington i. iii. (1828) 35 She is remov'd from his *lust-tempting eye. |
| 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. i. 38 The neere *Lust-wearied Anthony. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal iii. clv. 1366 It is called..in low Dutch Loopichecruit, which in English signifieth *Lust woort, bicause..cattell, if they do but onely taste of it, are prouoked to lust. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 318 Lust-wort, Drosera. |
▪ II. lust, v. literary and
arch. (
lʌst)
Also 4
loste, 4–7
luste.
[f. lust n.; cf. ON. losta, and list v.1] † 1. trans. To please, delight (also
absol.);
pass. and refl. to be pleased or delighted.
Obs.| c 1230 Hali Meid. 34 Hare muchele vnþeaw, þet bereð ham ase beastes to al þet ham lusteð. a 1300 E.E. Psalter lxxvi. 3 And i am lusted [Vulg. delectatus sum]. 1340 Ayenb. 246 Þer he him uetteþ, þer he him losteþ, þer he him resteþ. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iii. vii. (1869) 139 This is interieccioun sorweful wer inne is no thing that lusteth. |
† b. intr. To delight
in (something).
Obs.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 3869 Noght ferfull, ne furse,..Louet he no lede þat lustide in wrange. |
† 2. impers. me lusteth: I have a desire.
Obs.| 1390 Gower Conf. II. 213 Him lusteth of no ladi chiere. a 1553 [see list v.1 1 b]. 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions i. v. 55 As thoughe me lusteth ware lawe. |
† 3. intr. To desire, choose, wish.
a. Const.
inf. In the first quotation the verb may be impersonal:
cf. list v.
1 1,
quot. a 1300.
| a 1425 Cursor M. 22601 (Trin.) No creature shal luste [Cott., etc. list] play, Seint petur shal be doumbe þat day. 1459 Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 192 Such time as God lustith to calle you owte of this present life. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 24 Who so lusteth to rede this lytell treatyse. 1562–3 Jack Jugler (Grosart 1873) 43 You may saye..That you lusted not this night any supper make. 1563 Homilies ii. Holy Ghost ii. (1859) 463 He that lust to see examples, let him search their lives. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 45 Insomuch as he that never lusted to helpe others, was not now able to helpe himselfe. |
† b. With ellipsis of
inf. (Chiefly in clauses introduced by relatives,
when,
where, etc.)
Obs.| 1526 Tindale Matt. xvii. 12 They..have done vnto him whatsoever they lusted. 1536 in Strype Cranmer ii. (1694) 36 A man is at his choiss to choose him what proctor he lust best. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 11 Do not l kings create,..And, whom I lust, do heape with glory and renowne? 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 403 Here is Elderton lying in dust, Or lying Elderton, chuse which you lust. 1618 M. Baret Horsemanship i. 70 In letting him doe what hee lust, hee will become so stubborne and idle [etc.]. |
† c. refl. in the same sense.
Obs.| a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 50 To giue them licence to liue as they lust them selues. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. i. (1879) 34 To flaunt it out in what apparell he lusteth himself. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 271 They rate the goods without reason as they lust themselves. |
† d. trans. To desire.
Obs. (
Cf. list v.
1 3.)
| 1648 Sanderson Serm. (1653) 4 The Spirit and the flesh are contraries, and they lust contrary things. |
4. intr. To have a strong, excessive, or inordinate desire. Const.
for,
after,
† unto;
occas. with
inf. or noun-clause.
arch.| 1530 Tindale Deut. xiv. 26 Goo..and bestowe that moneye on what soeuer thy soule lusteth after. 1530 Palsgr. 616/1, I luste or longe for a thyng, as a woman with chylde doth. 1563 Homilies ii. Rogation Wk. ii. (1859) 492 If we be an hungred, we lust for bread. 1611 Bible Gal. v. 17. a 1701 Sedley Tyrant of Crete ii. iv, So barbarous a place which dares do Any thing it lusts unto without regard Of laws or hospitality. 1761 Sterne Tr. Shandy IV. xxii, I have lusted earnestly, and endeavoured carefully..that these little books..might stand instead of many bigger books. 1882 Pop. Sci. Monthly June 211 All those who lusted after the gains and possessions of the Jews. 1898 Pall Mall Mag. June 221 The..Spaniards lusting for their destruction. 1898 G. W. Steevens With Kitchener 150 Charging with the cold bayonet, as they lusted to. |
b. spec. of sexual desire.
| 1526 Tindale Matt. v. 28 Whosoever eyeth a wyfe, lustynge affter her, hathe committed advoutrie with her alredy in his hert. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. ix. 21 But Paridell of loue did make no threasure, But lusted after all that him did moue. 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. vi. 166 Thou hotly lusts to vse her in that kind, for which thou whip'st her. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 200 Societie with that sex, is much lusted after by all inflamed Asiatiques. 1727 Swift Circumcision E. Curll Wks. 1755 III. i. 163 Instead of lusting after the real wives and daughters of our rich citizens, they covet nothing but their money and estates. 1838 Lytton Leila i. vi, Yet dost thou lust after the daughter of our despised race. |
▪ III. lust see
list.