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lustre

UK/ˈlʌstə/US/ˈlʌstə/
nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,511 of 15,258leans written

Lustre is the way light shines off a mineral's surface. Metallic lustre, a pearly lustre, dull lustre.

It is a technical term in mineralogy with named categories — metallic, vitreous, pearly, resinous — and it is one of the first things used to identify a specimen. Figuratively, lustre means distinction: adding lustre to a name. Note the American spelling luster; and that the Latin means to shine.

Definitions of lustre

  1. 1nounlustreThe way light shines off a mineral's surface.C1

    “The geologist held the rock up to the light to check its lustre.”

lustre is a quality of shine.

Also accepted in games: luster

Where it comes from

Middle French lustre comes from Latin lustrare, to illuminate or purify. Illustrate comes from the same shining.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *lewk-

  2. Middle French

    lustre

  3. English, today

    lustre

From Middle French lustre. See luster (etymology 1).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Rocks & Minerals

Practise this word

lustre in the wild

  • A range of terms are used to describe lustre, such as earthy, metallic, greasy, and silky.

    Lustre (mineralogy)

  • Similarly, the term vitreous (derived from the Latin for glass, vitrum) refers to a glassy lustre.

    Lustre (mineralogy)

  • Tiger's eye (also called tiger eye) is a chatoyant gemstone that is usually a metamorphic rock with a golden to red-brown colour and a silky lustre.

    Tiger's eye

  • Unlike many members of this family these flies are generally darker and less colourful though some genera contain species with an attractive metallic lustre e.g.

    Brachyopini

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the lustre family

lustrouslustre

lustre — used about once every 23,598 pages · #13,511 · point at the bar for the others