lustrate
/ˈlʌstɹeɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Synonym of purify, to ritually cleanse or renew, particularly to do so with a propitiatory offering or (historical) the lustration, quinquennial ritual of the Roman censor to cleanse the city after a census.
Transitive verb
verb
Synonym of pass through, traverse.
Example Sentences
- "We must purge, and cleanse, and lustrate the whole city."
- ""Well," said Hypatia, more and more listlessly; "it might be more prudent to show them first the fairer and more graceful side of the old Myths... I wish to lustrate them afresh for the service of the gods.""
- "Mid-zenith hangs the fascinated day In wind-lustrated hollows crystalline."
Etymology
From Latin lustrātus (“lustrated”), perfect passive participle of lustrō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from lustrum (“ritual purification”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix), q.v. In reference to imparting luster, further via senses of Middle French lustre, from Old Italian lustro.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Religion.