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Origin and history of luxury

luxury(n.)

c. 1300, "sexual intercourse;" mid-14c., "lasciviousness, sinful self-indulgence;" late 14c., "sensual pleasure," from Old French luxurie "debauchery, dissoluteness, lust" (12c., Modern French luxure), from Latin luxuria "excess, extravagant living, profusion; delicacy" (source also of Spanish lujuria, Italian lussuria), from luxus "excess, extravagance; magnificence," probably a figurative use of luxus (adj.) "dislocated," which is related to luctari "wrestle, strain" (see reluctance).

The English word lost its pejorative taint 17c. Meaning "habit of indulgence in what is choice or costly" is from 1630s; that of "sumptuous surroundings" is from 1704; that of "something choice or comfortable beyond life's necessities" is from 1780. Used as an adjective from 1916.

In Lat. and in the Rom. langs. the word connotes vicious indulgence, the neutral sense of the Eng. 'luxury' being expressed by L. luxus, F. luxe, Sp. lujo, It. lusso. [OED]

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to luxury

reluctance(n.)

1640s, "act of struggling against;" 1660s, "unwillingness, aversion;" from the obsolete verb reluct "to strive, struggle, or rebel against" (15c.), from Latin reluctari, reluctare "to struggle against, resist, make opposition," from re- "back, against, in opposition" (see re-) + luctari "to struggle, wrestle," from Proto-Italic *lukto-, from PIE *lug-to- "bent" (source also of Old Irish foloing "supports," inloing "connects;" Middle Welsh ellwng- "to set free;" Greek lygos "withy, pliant twig," lygizein "to bend, twist;" Gothic galukan "to shut," uslukan "to open;" Old English locc "twist of hair."

Related: Reluctancy (1620s.); Bacon (1605) has reluctation.

deluxe(adj.)

also de luxe, 1819, from French de luxe, literally "of luxury," from Latin luxus "excess, abundance" (see luxury).

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Trends of luxury

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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luxurious

c. 1300, "lascivious, lecherous, unchaste," from Old French luxurios "lustful, lascivious" (Modern French luxurieux), from Latin luxuriosus "immoderate, excessive; voluptuous; profuse," from luxuria "excess, profusion; extravagant living" (see luxury). Meaning "given to luxury, v

opulence

"wealth, riches, affluence," c. 1500, from French opulence (16c.), from Latin opulentia "riches, wealth," from opulentus "wealthy," a dissimilation of *op-en-ent-, which is related to ops "wealth, power, ability, resources," and to opus "work, labor, exertion" (from PIE root *op-

abstinence

Especially of sexual appetites but also in Middle English of food, fighting, luxury....

living

livelihood is to earn enough to keep alive on with economy, not barely enough to maintain life, nor sufficient to live in luxury...

escalade

As the name of a brand of luxury SUV by Cadillac, from 1999....

limousine

Since 1930s, it has been synonymous in American English with "luxury car."...

sturgeon

A much-esteemed fish in ancient Greece, a costly luxury in Rome....

indulgence

mid-14c., in the Church sense, "a freeing from temporal punishment for sin, remission from punishment for sin that remains due after absolution," from Old French indulgence or directly from Latin indulgentia "complaisance, a yielding; fondness, tenderness, affection; remission,"

certain

c. 1300, "determined, fixed," from Old French certain "reliable, sure, assured" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *certanus, extended form of Latin certus "determined, resolved, fixed, settled," of things whose qualities are invariable, "established," also "placed beyond doubt, sure, tru

worry

c. 1300, wirien, "to slay, kill or injure by biting and shaking the throat" (as a dog or wolf does), from Old English wyrgan "to strangle," from Proto-Germanic *wurgjan (source also of Middle Dutch worghen, Dutch worgen, Old High German wurgen, German würgen "to strangle," Old No

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