Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A ceremonial purification of the entire ancient Roman population after the census every five years.
- n. A period of five years.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A lustration or purification; particularly, the ceremonial purification of the whole Roman people, performed at the end of every five years.
- n. Hence A space of five years.
Wiktionary
- n. A lustration or ceremonial purification of all the ancient Roman people, performed every five years, after the taking of the census.
- n. A period of five years.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A lustration or purification, especially the purification of the whole Roman people, which was made by the censors once in five years. A period of five years.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a period of five years
- n. a ceremonial purification of the Roman population every five years following the census
Etymologies
- From Latin lustrum ("period of five years"). (Wiktionary)
- Latin lūstrum; see luster. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Does the Latin word "lustrum" mean a bright light, a century, or a period of five years?”
“These were the twenty-sixth pair of censors since the first, the lustrum was the nineteenth.”
“And with this in mind, and in the renewed hope that I may live long enough to see the task through, I shall now relate the extraordinary story of Cicero’s year in office as consul of the Roman republic and what befell him in the four years afterward—a span of time we mortals call a lustrum, but which to the gods is no more than the blinking of an eye.”
“The census, commenced the previous year, was completed, and the "lustrum," which was then closed, is stated to have been the tenth since the beginning of the City.”
“In that year the census was taken, and owing to the seizure of the Capitol and the death of the consul, the "lustrum" was closed on religious grounds.”
“Then the census was made and the "lustrum" closed by Quinctius.”
“Yes, except that he will hold his province for an entire lustrum, while you will have to give up yours by the end of the year.”
“Now, a decade and a lustrum later, Keller's novella of entymology, penology, psychology, and mystery has been put between hardcovers for fresh judgement.”
“At the present lustrum of your life you are, and should be, supremely indifferent to your ancestors.”
“[5175] Cujus octavum trepidavit aetas, cernere lustrum; to say they are younger than they are.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘lustrum’.
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250 Extra Spelling Words
Some more words for intermediate and advanced spellers.
cultellarius, barouche, palanquin, badelaire, cavetto, tregetour, tergiversate, rhododendron, rhadamanthine, thyrsus, cappelletti, bradycardia and 238 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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phrontistery - l
from phrontistery.info
labarum, labefactation, labeorphily, labidometer, labile, lability, labiomancy, labret, labrose, labtebricole, lac, laccolith and 496 more...
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Chennessy's Words
philistine, messianic, dyad, cult, bourgeois, blot, ploy, polyglot, lingua franca, cumbersome, lumber, petit-bourgeois and 446 more...
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dark and bright words of shine and fi...
scotophil, scotoma, scotia, shed, shadow, shade, scone, whiting, edelweiss, light, lightning, lucina and 349 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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C. S. Bird – Grandiloquent Dictionary
All the words from the Grandiloquent Dictionary.
946 of these 2700 words do not yield any results in six different dictionaries, hence many of them might be misspellings.
More in...abacinate, abcedarian, abderian, ablegate, abligurition, ablutophobia, abnormous, acarophobia, acathasia, accipitrine, accidia, accubitus and 2690 more...
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Lessons of Wordie / Wordnik
Words and concepts I learned on Wordie, or happened upon as I roamed through dictionaries and websites seeking ammunition.
usquebaugh, baugh, plunderbunny, plinthiform, hendiatris, buckjumper, peripetia, trenchmore, antifogmatic, felon, whitlow, paronychia and 152 more...
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Vocabulary of Lord Rahl
Master Rahl guide us.
Master Rahl teach us.
Master Rahl protect us.
In your light we thrive.
In your mercy we are sheltered.
In your wisdom we are humbled.
internecine, antipodal, poliorcetics, haruspex, hejira, conventicle, ultroneous, Myrmidon, epic, fantasy, empire, victory and 121 more...
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JakeMV's Words
duffel, schadenfreude, boisterous, belligerent, stinky, bric-a-brac, dong, flagellum, splat, janky, brash, hubris and 37 more...
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Native Tongue
Words from other languages that have become part of my own.
kagakshi, pespeyason, mskoda, potawatomi, athabaskan, waglula, fu, weemoed, solidarność, congou, darjeeling, alpe d'huez and 55 more...
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Loaf's Likes List
Alliteration is fun.
vapid, insipid, skullduggery, plethora, cacophony, dissonance, flummox, gravid, mellifluous, dolt, abjure, prescience and 42 more...
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jrgoddess's Words
piebald, crepuscular, witling, bellicose, expatiate, effluvia, saturnine, putative, autodidact, asset, lustrum, scribe and 1 more...
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Time Keeps Marching On
second, minute, hour, day, month, year, decade, century, millennium, nanosecond, millisecond, fortnight and 12 more...
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perhapsolutely's Words
polyradiculoneuro..., abulia, abubble, abscission, abaft, zareba, abatis, abigail, abiogenesis, ablate, ablaut, abo and 1705 more...
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Words of the Day
Words of the day. :)
mucronate, fellah, glottochronology, chanticleer, pabulum, cynosure, purport, risible, privatdozent, catoptric, frazil, rusk and 30 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for lustrum.

biocon Lustrum may also denote a combination of four years or divisions (OED). Jun 23, 2012