lustrum

[ luhs-truhm ]
See synonyms for lustrum on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural lus·trums, lus·tra [luhs-truh]. /ˈlʌs trə/.
  1. a period of five years.

  2. Roman History. a lustration or ceremonial purification of the people, performed every five years, after the taking of the census.

Origin of lustrum

1
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin lūstrum; cf. luster1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use lustrum in a sentence

  • Two presidential lustrums of Grant and one of Hayes had erased from the hearts of men the burning sensations of impeachment.

  • We who have lived fifteen lustrums have already witnessed the dissolution of our world.

  • They counted their ages and eras, which they inscribed in their books every twenty years, in lustrums of four years.

    Vestiges of the Mayas | Augustus Le Plongeon
  • Dost thou not envy that smirk young knave with his five lustrums, though it goes hard with him to purchase his kid-gloves?

    The Bertrams | Anthony Trollope
  • He had been gone three days, and, in their lapse, Theo felt as if three lustrums had passed.

    Theo | Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett

British Dictionary definitions for lustrum

lustrum

lustre

/ (ˈlʌstrəm) /


nounplural -trums or -tra (-trə)
  1. a period of five years

Origin of lustrum

1
C16: from Latin: ceremony of purification, from lustrāre to brighten, purify

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012