lucubration

American  

[loo-kyoo-brey-shuhn] / ˌlu kjʊˈbreɪ ʃən /

noun

1. laborious work, study, thought, etc., especially at night.

2. the result of such activity, as a learned speech or dissertation.

3. Often lucubrations. any literary effort, especially of a pretentious or solemn nature.

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lucubration British  

/ ˌluːkjʊˈbreɪʃən /

noun

1. laborious study, esp at night

2. (often plural) a solemn literary work

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Etymology

Origin of lucubration

1585–95; < Latin lūcubrātiōn- (stem of lūcubrātiō ) night-work. See lucubrate, -ion

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lucubration

Love, war, a tempest—surely there 's variety; Also a seasoning slight of lucubration; A bird's-eye view, too, of that wild, Society; A slight glance thrown on men of every station.

From Don Juan by Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron

Swift chronologically precedes Sterne, for in 1726, shortly after "Robinson Crusoe" and a good fifteen years before "Pamela," he gave the world that unique lucubration, "Gulliver's Travels," allegory, satire and fairy story all in one.

From Masters of the English Novel A Study of Principles and Personalities by Burton, Richard

He spoke some French, perhaps also Italian; and if he had been at a University, which did not frequently happen, he might be able to recite a Latin lucubration.

From Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries, Vol. I. by Freytag, Gustav

Mr. Bambridge made considerable alterations in his cherished lucubration; and when the advertisement appeared in print, it looked mean and filled but a paltry space.

From Children of the Mist by Phillpotts, Eden

But I am here running into shreds of maxims from reading Tacitus this morning, which has driven me from my recommendation of public spirit, which was the intended purpose of this lucubration.

From The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 by Ontario. Ministry of Education