lour
/ˈlaʊɚ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.70 in modern English
4
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To be dark, gloomy, and threatening, as clouds; of the sky: to be covered with dark and threatening clouds; to show threatening signs of approach, as a tempest.
Intransitive verb
noun
Of the sky, the weather, etc.: a dark, gloomy, and threatening appearance.
Example Sentences
- "[...] Juno took her place: But ſullen Diſcontent ſat lowring on her Face."
- "And solace sought he none from priest nor leech, / And soon the same in movement and in speech, / As heretofore he fill'd the passing hours, / Nor less he smiles, nor more his forehead lours / Than these were wont; [...]"
- "Their lank black hair hung round their black visages; and the only points of relief in the wild countenance which loured from under their strange head-dresses, were the dark, piercing eyes, and the white teeth."
- "Now is the winter of our diſcontent, Made glorious ſummer by this ſonne of Yorke: And all the cloudes that lowrd vpon our houſe, In the deepe boſome of the Ocean buried."
- "And with them comes a third of Regal port, / But faded ſplendor wan; who by his gate / And fierce demeanour ſeems the Prince of Hell, / Not likely to part hence without conteſt; / Stand firm, for in his look defiance lours."
- "The Dawn is over-caſt, the Morning low’rs, And heavily in Clouds brings on the Day, […]"
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English louren, lour, loure (“to frown or scowl; to be dark or overcast; to droop, fade, wither; to lurk, skulk”), probably from Old English *lūran, *lūrian, from Proto-Germanic *lūraną (“to lie in wait, lurk”). The English word is cognate with Danish lure (“to lie in ambush; to take a nap”), Middle Dutch loeren (modern Dutch loeren (“to lurk, spy on”)), Middle Low German lûren (“to lie in ambush”), German Low German luren (“to lurk”), Middle High German lūren (“to lie in ambush”) (modern German lauern (“to lie in ambush; to lurk”)), Icelandic lúra (“to take a nap”), Saterland Frisian luurje (“to lie in wait”), West Frisian loere (“to lurk”), and Swedish lura (“to lie in ambush; to deceive, fool, trick; to lure; to take a nap”); and is related to lurk. The noun is derived from the verb.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: louren, *lūran, *lūraną
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈlaʊɚ/
- British English: /ˈlaʊə/