Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Intense sexual desire.
  • noun An overwhelming desire or craving.
  • noun Intense eagerness or enthusiasm.
  • noun Obsolete Pleasure; relish.
  • intransitive verb To have an intense desire, especially one that is sexual.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Pleasure; delight; a source of pleasure.
  • noun Desire, inclination, or wish in general.
  • noun Intense longing desire; eagerness for possession or enjoyment: as, the lust of gain.
  • noun Specifically Evil propensity; depraved affection or desire.
  • noun In absolute use, carnal desire; sexual appetite; unlawful desire of sexual pleasure; concupiscence.
  • To desire eagerly; long: with after or for.
  • To take pleasure; delight; like.
  • Specifically To have evil desire.
  • To have carnal desire: with after.
  • A Middle English form of list .

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete Pleasure.
  • noun obsolete Inclination; desire.
  • noun Longing desire; eagerness to possess or enjoy; -- in a had sense.
  • noun Licentious craving; a strong sexual appetite.
  • noun obsolete Hence: Virility; vigor; active power.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To list; to like.
  • intransitive verb To have an eager, passionate, and especially an inordinate or sinful desire, as for the gratification of the sexual appetite or of covetousness; -- often with after.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A feeling of strong desire, especially of a sexual nature.
  • noun archaic A general want or longing not necessarily sexual or devious.
  • noun archaic A delightful cause of joy, pleasure.
  • verb intransitive To very strongly desire.
  • verb To crave sexual contact urgently.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb have a craving, appetite, or great desire for
  • noun a strong sexual desire
  • noun self-indulgent sexual desire (personified as one of the deadly sins)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English, desire; see las- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English lust ("lust, pleasure, longing"), from Proto-Germanic *lustuz. Akin to Old Saxon, Dutch lust, Old Frisian, Old High German, German Lust, & Swedish lust, Danish lyst & Icelandic lyst, Old Norse losti, Gothic lustus, and perhaps to Sanskrit lush "to desire" and Albanian lushë ("bitch, savage dog, promiscuous woman"), or to English loose. Confer list ("to please"), listless.

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Examples

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  • lust is real. love is an illusion.

    October 3, 2009