lure

See also: Lure and lurĕ

English

Some fishing lures

Etymology 1

From Anglo-Norman lure, from Old French loirre (Modern French leurre), from Frankish *lōþr, from Proto-Germanic *lōþr-, perhaps ultimately related to *laþō (“invitation, calling”), or from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- (“to hide”). Compare English allure, also from Old French. Probably related to German Luder (“bait”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /l(j)ʊə/, /lɔː/, /lɜː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /lʊəɹ/, /lɝ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA^(key): /lʉːɹ/
• Homophones: lore (some speakers with the pour–poor merger); law (non-rhotic, pour–poor merger)
• Rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ), -ɔː(ɹ), -ɜː(ɹ)

Noun

lure (plural lures)

1. (also figurative) Something that tempts or attracts, especially one with a promise of reward or pleasure.
   • 1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 2:

     How many have with a smile made small account
     Of Beauty and her lures

2. (fishing) An artificial bait attached to a fishing line to attract fish.
3. (falconry) A bunch of feathers attached to a line, used in falconry to recall the hawk.
   • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 222:

     My Faulcon now is ſharpe and paſſing emptie, / And til ſhe ſtoope ſhe muſt not be full gorg'd, / For then ſhe never lookes upon her lure.

4. A velvet smoothing brush.

Derived terms

• spoon lure

Translations

tempting or attractive object

• Bulgarian: примамка (bg) f (primamka)
• Catalan: esquer (ca) m
• Czech: lákadlo (cs) n, vějička f
• Danish: lokkemiddel n, lokkemad c
• Dutch: lokmiddel (nl) n, (informally) lokkertje (nl) n
• Finnish: houkutin (fi)
• French: attrait (fr) m
• Friulian: lescje f
• Galician: cebo (gl) m, abeto (gl) m, isca (gl) f
• German: Anlockungsmittel n, Lockmittel (de) n, Lockung f, Lockvogel (de) m, Lure f, Reiz (de) m
• Italian: esca (it) f, richiamo (it) m
• Latin: illecebra f
• Polish: pokusa (pl) f, ponęta f, mamidło n
• Russian: прима́нка (ru) f (primánka)
• Spanish: cebo (es) m, curricán m, aliciente (es) m
• Telugu: గాలము (te) (gālamu)
• Turkish: câzibe, çığırtkan (tr)
• Yiddish: מאַניעניש n (manyenish)

artificial fishing bait

• Catalan: esquer (ca) m
• Czech: návnada f, třpytka f
• Danish: blink n or c
• Finnish: viehe (fi), uistin (fi)
• French: leurre (fr) m
• Friulian: lescje f
• Galician: anzol (gl) m
• German: Köder (de) m
• Italian: esca (it) f
• Maori: poa, poapoa
• Norwegian: agn (no) n
• Polish: wabik (pl) m, błysk (pl) m, błystka f, błyszcz m, błyszczka f, błyszczyk (pl) m
• Portuguese: isca (pt)
• Russian: блесна́ (ru) f (blesná)
• Spanish: cebo (es) m
• Swedish: agn (sv) n, bete (sv) n
• Telugu: ఎర (te) (era)
• Turkish: yem (tr), zoka (tr)
• Yiddish: מאַניעניש n (manyenish)

falconry

• Ottoman Turkish: رات (rat)

Verb

lure (third-person singular simple present lures, present participle luring, simple past and past participle lured)

1. (transitive) To attract by temptation, appeal, or guile.

   Synonym: entice

   • 2012, Kate Bassett, “Mid-Seventies Onwards: Operatic beginnings and The Body in Question”, in In Two Minds: A Biography of Jonathan Miller, London: Oberon Books Ltd, →ISBN, page 219:

     It had been sixteen years since the BBC’s Grace Wyndham Goldie wrote her internal memo about luring him back to make sociological/scientific TV programmes. Now a second note had circulated, from the science department, proposing that he should present the Corporation’s next educative megaseries.

   • 2014, Michel Clasquin-Johnson, What is the difference between a research professor and a professor?:

     Professor is what you become after teaching for twenty to thirty years. Research Professor is what you then want to become, so you can finally stop worrying about students and do the research that lured you into academia in the first place!

2. (transitive) To attract fish with a lure.
3. (transitive, falconry) To recall a hawk with a lure.

Related terms

• allure

Translations

to entice

• Bulgarian: примамвам (bg) (primamvam), съблазнявам (bg) (sǎblaznjavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 誘惑／诱惑 (zh) (yòuhuò)

• Danish: lokke
• Dutch: aantrekken (nl), lokken (nl)
• Finnish: houkutella (fi), vedättää (fi)
• French: attirer (fr) (dans un piège), séduire (fr), leurrer (fr)
• Galician: atricar, tentar (gl)
• German: anlocken (de), herlocken, locken (de), ködern (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: δελεάζω (deleázō)

• Ingrian: manitella
• Italian: sedurre (it), incantare (it), ammaliare (it), tentare (it), adescare (it)
• Japanese: 誘惑する (ja) (ゆうわくする, yūwaku suru), 誘い出す (ja) (さそいだす, sasoidasu) (away, out), 誘い込む (さそいこむ, sasoikomu) (in, into)
• Macedonian: при́мами (prímami)
• Maori: kohinu, poapoa, tīmori, whakapoapoa, pātoi
• Middle English: snaren, snarlen
• Old High German: spanan
• Polish: nęcić (pl) impf, wabić (pl) impf, mamić impf
• Portuguese: atrair (pt)
• Russian: соблазня́ть (ru) impf (soblaznjátʹ), прима́нивать (ru) impf (primánivatʹ), мани́ть (ru) impf (manítʹ), завлека́ть (ru) impf (zavlekátʹ)
• Spanish: seducir (es), encantar (es), atraer (es)
• Swedish: locka (sv)
• Telugu: ఊరించు (te) (ūriñcu)
• Turkish: aklını çelmek (tr), ayartmak (tr), cezbetmek (tr), çekmek (tr), kandırmak (tr), yemlemek (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} عربي: طُعم، إغراء

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Icelandic lúðr.

Noun

lure (plural lures)

1. (music) Alternative form of lur

Anagrams

• Rule, UERL, ReLU, Ruel, rule

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Adjective

lure

1. definite singular of lur
2. plural of lur

Etymology 2

From Middle Low German luren.

Verb

lure (imperative lur, present tense lurer, passive lures, simple past lurte, past participle lurt, present participle lurende)

1. to deceive, trick
2. to lurk
3. to wonder (på / about)

References

• “lure” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Adjective

lure

1. definite of lur
2. plural of lur

Etymology 2

Verb

lure (present tense lurar or lurer, past tense lura or lurte, past participle lura or lurt, present participle lurande, imperative lur)

1. Alternative form of lura

Old French

Etymology

From Frankish *lōþr, from Proto-Germanic *lōþr-, perhaps ultimately related to *laþō (“invitation, calling”), or from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- (“to hide”).

Noun

lure oblique singular, f (oblique plural lures, nominative singular lure, nominative plural lures)

1. lure (bunch of feathers attached to a line, used in falconry to recall the hawk)

Descendants

• English: lure

References

• lure on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub
• “lure”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) “Luder”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891