Dictionary

lucre en · NOUN

Pronunciation

/ˈljuːkə/ (Received-Pronunciation, rare)
/ˈlʉkəɾ/ (Scotland)
/ˈluːkɚ/ (General-American)
/ˈluːkə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
/ˈlʉkəɹ/ (Northern-Ireland)
(Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English lūcre, lucor, lucour, lucur (“gain in money, profit; money; wages; illicit gain; advantage, benefit”), from Old French lucre or Latin lucrum (“advantage, profit; love of gain, avarice”), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂w- (“gain, profit”) + *-tlom (variant of *-trom (suffix forming nouns denoting tools or instruments)).

Meanings

(uncountable) Money, riches, or wealth, especially when seen as having a corrupting effect or causing greed, or obtained in an underhanded manner.
- By-ends and Silver-Demas both agree; / One calls, the other runs, that he may be / A ſharer in his lucre; ſo theſe two / Take up in this World, and no further go. 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 145:
- A Biſhop then muſt be blameleſſe, the huſband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behauiour, giuen to hoſpitalitie, apt to teach; / Not giuen to wine, no ſtriker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not couetous; […] 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 3:2–3:
- When a man bargains for the price of maintaining such or such principles, or of endeavouring to make out such or such a case, without believing in the soundness of the principles or the truth of the case; such a man, whether he touch the cash (or paper-money) before or after the performance of his work, and whether he work with his tongue or his pen, may, I think be fairly charged with seeking after "base lucre;" for he, in such case, manifestly sells not only the use of his talents, but his sincerity into the bargain, and drives a traffic as nearly allied to soul-selling as any thing in this world can be; […] 1810 July 13, William Cobbett, “To the Reader”, in Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register, volume XVIII, number 1, London: Printed by T[homas] C[urson] Hansard, Peterborough Court, Fleet Street; and sold by Richard Bagshaw, Brydges Street, Covent-Garden, and John Budd, Pall-Mall, published 14 July 1810, →OCLC, columns 13–14:
- […] [I]t's only fair that you should pocket the lucre. I've had my share already. 1884 December, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Body Snatcher”, in Pall Mall Christmas “Extra”, London, →OCLC; republished as “The Body-snatcher”, in The Novels and Tales of Robert Louis Stevenson: The Black Arrow; The Misadventures of John Nicholson; The Body-snatcher, volume 8, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1895, →OCLC, page 421:

Deriveds

filthy lucre

lucrativeness · Lucretius · lucrative · lucriferous · lucratively · lucrific · Lucretia

Synonyms

mammon

Translations (18)

mk пе́чалба (money, riches, or wealth) · mk бо́гатство (money, riches, or wealth) · cs mamon (money, riches, or wealth) · mk до́бивка (money, riches, or wealth) · fr profit (money, riches, or wealth) · gd prothaid (money, riches, or wealth) · cs peníze (money, riches, or wealth) · es lucro (money, riches, or wealth) · bg богатство (money, riches, or wealth) · cs prachy (money, riches, or wealth) · nl gewin (money, riches, or wealth) · cy budrelw (money, riches, or wealth) · fr lucre (money, riches, or wealth) · nl profijt (money, riches, or wealth) · mk па́ри (money, riches, or wealth) · af rykdom (money, riches, or wealth) · fr gain (money, riches, or wealth) · fi pätäkkä (money, riches, or wealth)