lucre
[loo-ker]
- monetary reward or gain; money.
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Origin of lucre
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin lucrum profit; akin to Old English lēan reward, German Lohn, Gothic, Old Norse laun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for lucre
Contemporary Examples
America with lakes of lucre, waves of wampum, a Superstorm Sandy of simoleons, a Hurricane Katrina of cash.
He should stop wasting his time taunting Rick Perry with penny-ante bets and put his lucre to good use.
Historical Examples
Other causes are added to lucre, or are the consequences of it.
The Sexual QuestionAugust Forel
Here are our instruments of deception, our poisoned 75 sources of lucre.
The Book of KhalidAmeen Rihani
The professor does not practice this art for the lucre of gain, but he understands it in detail.
The GypsiesCharles G. Leland
Spain would have the princess Lucre, in despite of Holland and all the Jews.
The Sleeping BardEllis Wynne
It is a work of love, not of lucre; and, as such, is commended to the brotherhood.
lucre
- usually facetious money or wealth (esp in the phrase filthy lucre)
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Word Origin
C14: from Latin lūcrum gain; related to Old English lēan reward, German Lohn wages
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for lucre
n.
late 14c., from Latin lucrum "gain, advantage, profit; wealth, riches," from PIE root *lau- "gain, profit" (cf. Greek apo-lanein "to enjoy," Gothic launs, German lohn "wages, reward," and possibly Sanskrit lotam, lotram "booty"). Filthy lucre (Tit. i:11) is Tyndale's rendering of Greek aischron kerdos.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper