lucre

lu·cre

L0280800 (lo͞o′kər)n. Money or profits.

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[Middle English, from Latin lucrum; see lau- in Indo-European roots.]Word History: In the 1520s, William Tyndale made an influential translation of the New Testament from Greek into English. Many of Tyndale's English renderings of Greek phrases were considered so apt that the translators of the King James Version of the Bible reused them eighty years later, thus ensuring their familiarity to speakers of Modern English. Among the familiar phrases that Tyndale apparently coined in his translation are the powers that be (Romans 13:1) and filthy lucre (Titus 1:7,11). This last expression occurs as part of the translation of Greek phrases like aiskhrou kerdous kharin "for the sake (kharin) of shameful (aiskhrou) gain (kerdous)." When translating these words, Tyndale was probably guided by the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Old and New Testaments that had been the standard edition of the Bible in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In the Vulgate, the passage was rendered with the Latin words turpis lucrī grātiā, "for the sake (grātiā) of shameful (turpis) gain (lucrī)." It was only natural that Tyndale, working in the early Reformation, would remember the wording of the familiar Latin translation. As a result, he rendered the phrase as because of filthy lucre, using the English word lucre, which comes from Latin lucrum, "material gain, profit,"—the same Latin word that appears in the form lucrī in the Vulgate. But we cannot attribute the modern pejorative connotations of lucre wholly to Tyndale's influence. In Latin itself, lucrum could be used to mean "avarice." When the Latin word was borrowed into Middle English as lucre, it was often used in the simple neutral sense "material gain, profit." Already in the 1300s, however, lucre began to appear in contexts favoring the development of pejorative overtones, such as in Chaucer's phrase from the Prioress's Tale: foule usure and lucre of vileynye ("foul usury and lucre of villainy").

lucre

(ˈluːkə) n (Banking & Finance) usually facetious money or wealth (esp in the phrase filthy lucre)[C14: from Latin lūcrum gain; related to Old English lēan reward, German Lohn wages]

lu•cre

(ˈlu kər)

n. monetary reward or gain; money. [1350–1400; Middle English < Latin lucrum profit; akin to Old English lēan reward, Old Saxon, Old High German lōn, Old Norse, Gothic laun]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	lucre - informal terms for money boodle, clams, dinero, gelt, kale, lettuce, lolly, moolah, pelf, shekels, simoleons, wampum, loot, dough, bread, cabbage, sugar, scratchmoney - the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender; "we tried to collect the money he owed us"
	2.	lucre - the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses)net income, net profit, profit, profits, earnings, netincome - the financial gain (earned or unearned) accruing over a given period of timeearning per share - the portion of a company's profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stockwindfall profit - profit that occurs unexpectedly as a consequence of some event not controlled by those who profit from itcleanup, killing - a very large profitfast buck, quick buck - quick or easy earnings, "they are traders out to make a fast buck"filthy lucre - shameful profit; "he would sell his soul for filthy lucre"gross profit, gross profit margin, margin - (finance) the net sales minus the cost of goods and services soldshare, percentage, portion, part - assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual person or group; "he wanted his share in cash"markup - the amount added to the cost to determine the asking priceaccumulation - (finance) profits that are not paid out as dividends but are added to the capital base of the corporationdividend - that part of the earnings of a corporation that is distributed to its shareholders; usually paid quarterly

lucre

noun (Usually facetious) money, profit, gain, riches, wealth, spoils, mammon, pelf Now they can feel less guilty about their piles of filthy lucre.

lucre

nounSomething, such as coins or printed bills, used as a medium of exchange:cash, currency, money.Informal: wampum.Slang: bread, cabbage, dough, gelt, green, jack, lettuce, long green, mazuma, moola, scratch.Chiefly British: brass.

Translations

lucrolucro