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• Lucifer
  Lucifer

  noun

  a proud, rebellious archangel, identified with Satan, who fell from heaven.
• lucifer
  lucifer

  noun

  a friction match: originally a trade name for a match manufactured in England in the 19th century

Lucifer

American  

[loo-suh-fer] / ˈlu sə fər /

noun

1. a proud, rebellious archangel, identified with Satan, who fell from heaven.

2. the planet Venus when appearing as the morning star.

3. (lowercase) friction match.

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Lucifer ¹ British  

/ ˈluːsɪfə /

noun

1. the leader of the rebellion of the angels: usually identified with Satan

2. the planet Venus when it rises as the morning star

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lucifer ² British  

/ ˈluːsɪfə /

noun

1. a friction match: originally a trade name for a match manufactured in England in the 19th century

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Lucifer ¹ Cultural  

1. Another name for Satan.

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Lucifer ² Cultural  

1. A name, traditional in Christianity, for the leader of the devils, an angel who was cast from heaven into hell because he rebelled against God. Lucifer is usually identified with Satan. The name Lucifer, which means “bearer of light” or “morning star,” refers to his former splendor as the greatest of the angels.

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Etymology

Origin of Lucifer

before 1000; Middle English, Old English < Latin: morning star, literally, light-bringing, equivalent to lūci- (stem of lūx ) light + -fer -fer

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Compare meaning

How does lucifer compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Lucifer vs. Satan

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Lucifer lucifer

No wonder Dante, the Florence-born author of the “Divine Comedy,” consigned counterfeiters to the eighth circle of hell, “just one rung higher than Lucifer in the ninth.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025

Luther, who has the sinister authority of a mild-mannered Lucifer in a wrinkled suit, makes to leave out of respect for Veronica’s wishes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2024

It finally premiered on Netflix in August 2022 and featured some well known names including Charles Dance, Stephen Fry, Jenna Coleman and Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2023

He had the word Lucifer tattooed on his chest.

From New York Times ● May 24, 2023

Gran’s cat, Viper, made the cat Lucifer from the Cinderella movie look like an angel.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

When that wind blew, the simplest of devices—from lucifer matches to lantern-slides—would no longer function.

From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman

Con′greve-match, a kind of lucifer match, invented by Congreve.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

Nobody is without a few lucifer matches, be they ever so poor.

From The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 4 of 6 by Eugène Sue

Directions for making these luminous phials are very simple, and may be found in most of the books of experiments published prior to the introduction of the modern lucifer match.

From The Seven Follies of Science [2nd ed.] A popular account of the most famous scientific impossibilities and the attempts which have been made to solve them. by John Phin

The floor of the bush glimmered with dead wood, the way the match-box used to shine after you had struck a lucifer.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 17 (of 25) by Robert Louis Stevenson

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Related Words

• Satan

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