Nearby Words

lustration

[luhs-treyt]

lus·trate

[luhs-treyt]
verb (used with object), -trat·ed, -trat·ing.
to purify by a propitiatory offering or other ceremonial method.

Origin:
1615–25; < Latin lūstrātus, past participle of lūstrāre to purify, illumine. See luster1, -ate1

lus·tra·tion, noun
lus·tra·tive [luhs-truh-tiv] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To lustration

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Lustration is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Collins
World English Dictionary
lustrate (ˈlʌstreɪt)
 
vb
(tr) to purify by means of religious rituals or ceremonies
 
[C17: from Latin lūstrāre to brighten]
 
lus'tration
 
n
 
lustrative
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

lustration

(from Latin lustratio, "purification by sacrifice"), any of various processes in ancient Greece and Rome whereby individuals or communities rid themselves of ceremonial impurity (e.g., bloodguilt, pollution incurred by contact with childbirth or with a corpse) or simply of the profane or ordinary state, which made it dangerous to come into contact with sacred rites or objects. The methods varied from sprinkling with or washing in water, through rubbing with various substances, such as blood or clay, to complicated ceremonies, some of which involved confession of sins. Fumigation was also used.

Learn more about lustration with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature