lust

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

lust

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English lust, from Old English lust (“lust, pleasure, longing”), from Proto-West Germanic *lustu, from Proto-Germanic *lustuz.

Akin to Old Saxon, Dutch lust, Old Frisian, Old High German, German Lust, Swedish lust, Danish lyst, Icelandic lyst, Old Norse losti, Gothic 𐌻𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌿𐍃 (lustus), and perhaps to Sanskrit लष् (laṣ), लषति (laṣati, “to desire”) and Albanian lushë (“bitch, savage dog, promiscuous woman”), or to English loose. Compare list (“to please”), listless.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lʌst/
• Rhymes: -ʌst

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

lust (countable and uncountable, plural lusts)

1. A feeling of strong desire, especially such a feeling driven by sexual arousal.

   Seeing Leslie fills me with a passionate lust.

2. (archaic) A general want or longing, not necessarily sexual.

   The boarders hide their lust to go home.

   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 21:

     For little lust had she to talk of ought.

   • 1608, Joseph Hall, “Epistle I. To S^r. Robert Darcy. The Estate of a True, but Weake Christian.”, in Epistles , volume I, London: H L for Samuel Macham & E Edgar , →OCLC, 2nd decade, page 108:

     [T]he vvorld thruſts it ſelfe betvvixt me and heauen; and, by his darke and indigeſted parts, eclipſeth that light vvhich ſhined to my ſoule. Novv, a ſenſeleſſe dulneſſe ouer-takes mee, and beſots mee; my luſt to deuotion is little, my ioy none at all: Gods face is hid, and I am troubled.

3. (archaic) A delightful cause of joy, pleasure.

   An ideal son is his father's lasting lust.

   • c. 1521, John Skelton, Speke Parott:

     Pompe, pryde, honour, ryches & worldly luſt
     Parrot ſayth playnly, ſhall tourne all to duſt

4. (obsolete) virility; vigour; active power
   • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. , 3rd edition, London: William Rawley; rinted by J H for William Lee , →OCLC:

     Trees will grow greater, and bear better fruit, if you put salt, or lees of wine, or blood, to the root: the cause may be the increasing the lust or spirit of the root.

Synonyms

• (strong desire): See also Thesaurus:craving or Thesaurus:lust
• (general want or longing): See also Thesaurus:desire
• (delightful cause of joy): See also Thesaurus:pleasure
• (active power): lustihood, potency, vigour, virility

Antonyms

• chastity

Derived terms

Related terms

• wanderlust

Translations

Verb

lust (third-person singular simple present lusts, present participle lusting, simple past and past participle lusted)

1. (intransitive, usually in the phrase "lust after") To look at or watch with a strong desire, especially of a sexual nature.

   He was lusting after the woman in the tight leather miniskirt.

Derived terms

• lust after

Translations

Anagrams

• LUTs, UTSL, slut, ults

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lʏst/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lust
• Rhymes: -ʏst

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch lust, from Old Dutch *lust, from Proto-West Germanic *lustu, from Proto-Germanic *lustuz.

Noun

lust m (plural lusten, diminutive lustje n)

1. lust, desire (especially sexual, but also more generally)
2. object of desire
3. pleasure, joy

   Het was een lust om naar hem te kijken en te luisteren.

   It was a pleasure watching and listening to him.

4. (usually in the plural) benefit, advantage
5. a taste for, strong tendency to

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: lus
• Negerhollands: lyst

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

lust

1. inflection of lusten:
   1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

Estonian

Etymology

From Middle Low German lust. Cognate to German Lust and Finnish lusti.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlusʲt/

Noun

lust (genitive lusti, partitive lusti)

1. pleasure, fun, joy, lust (non-sexual)

   Nad teevad seda niisama lusti pärast.

   They're doing it just for fun.

Declension

Descendants

• → Ingrian: lusti (“beautiful, funny”)
• → Votic: lusti (“beautiful”)

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *lust, from Proto-West Germanic *lustu, from Proto-Germanic *lustuz.

Noun

lust m or f

1. enjoyment, pleasure
2. lust, desire
3. hunger, desire to eat

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• onlust

Descendants

• Dutch: lust
  • Afrikaans: lus
  • Negerhollands: lyst

Further reading

• “lust”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “lust (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *lustu, from Proto-Germanic *lustuz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lust/

Noun

lust m

1. desire, pleasure, appetite, lust
   • Him wæs metes micel lust ― he had a craving for food. (Ælfric's Homilies)

Declension

Descendants

• Middle English: lust
  • English: lust

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse losti (late Old Norse lyst), from Middle Low German lust lüst, lyst, from Old Saxon lust, from Proto-West Germanic *lustu.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

lust c

1. desire to do something

   känna en stark lust att göra något

   feel a strong desire to do something

   Det är trevligt att ha ett land man kan påta i när lusten faller på

   It's nice to have a garden plot that you can potter around in when the desire strikes

   • 1986, Lasse Holm (lyrics and music), “Cannelloni, macaroni”:

     Campagnola, fiuggirola, quattro stagioni, marinara, capricciosa, kan inte låta bli. Jag blir fascinerad. Känner hunger, känner törst. Det gör mig passionerad. Det gör mig fylld av lust. Pescatore, vesuvio, la bussola, pompei. Vad ni frestar mig. Siciliana, al tonne [sic], vegetariano. Jag får aldrig nog.

     Campagnola, fiuggirola, quattro stagioni, marinara, capricciosa, can't help myself. I am fascinated. Feeling hunger, feeling thirst. It makes me passionate. It makes me filled with desire. Pescatore, vesuvio, la bussola, pompei. How you tempt me. Siciliana, al tonne , vegetariano. I never get enough.

   1. (in "ha lust") to feel like, to want (to do something)

      Jag har lust att spela krocket

      I feel like playing croquet

      Jag har ingen/inte lust att städa idag

      I don't feel like cleaning today

      Har du lust att hänga med oss till bensinstationen?

      Want to join us to the gas station?

      Vi frågade om han kunde hjälpa oss, men han sa att han inte hade lust

      We asked if he could help us, but he said he didn't feel like it

      Den som har tid och lust får gärna komma och hjälpa oss

      Anyone who has the time and inclination is welcome to come and help us

   2. (in "tappa lusten") to lose one's desire to do something, to lose one's enthusiasm for something

      tappa lusten att träna

      lose the desire to work out

2. sexual desire

   sexlust

   sex drive

   djuriska lustar

   animalistic desires

   inte känna lust till någon

   have no desire for someone

   Synonym: (often) lusta

3. (somewhat dated) joy, delight

   Hon tyckte det var en lust att leva

   She thought it was a joy to be alive

Usage notes

The tone in "ha lust" and "tappa lusten" matches "feel like doing" or "want" rather than "desire" or "lust for" or the like. Thought of as a separate, non-literary-sounding sense of "lust" by native speakers.

Declension

Derived terms

• förlusta
• förlustelse
• läslust
• lustgas
• lusthus
• lustjakt
• lustmord
• lustresa
• lustspel
• söklust

Related terms

• lusta
• lustig
• lysten
• lystnad

References

• lust in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• lust in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• lust in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• luts, slut

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian lust, from Proto-West Germanic *lustu.

Noun

lust c (plural lusten)

1. desire, appetite
2. lust, sexual desire

Derived terms

• ytlust

Further reading

• “lust”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011