lucifer

See also: Lucifer, Lúcifer, and lucífer

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

lucifer (plural lucifers)

1. Ellipsis of lucifer match, sulfur or phosphorus friction matches.
   • 1865, The Domestic Service Guide..., p. 223:

     The invention of the Lucifer Match has brought with it many dangers. In one year, in London, there were published thirty-nine accounts of serious conflagrations through children playing with lucifers, the igniting of the matches, and the careless use of them... To guard against the recurrence of these sad results has been invented "the Safety Match," or a match which cannot ignite by friction with ordinary substances...

   • 1915, “Pack up your Troubles”, George Asaf (lyrics), Felix Powell (music):

     While you’ve a lucifer to light your fag,
     Smile, boys, that’s the style

   • 1996 November, J. E. Lighter, “Blowing Smoke”, in The Atlantic‎^[1], →ISSN, archived from the original on 12 September 2015:

     In the era of Twain and Grant cigar-smoking paraphernalia consisted mainly of a cigar cutter; the cigar itself was lit with a lucifer (safety match).

Descendants

• → Dutch: lucifer

Anagrams

• ferulic

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English lucifer, ellipsis of lucifer match, from Latin lūcifer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈly.siˌfɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lu‧ci‧fer

Noun

lucifer m (plural lucifers, diminutive lucifertje n)

1. match (device to make fire)

Synonyms

• (Flanders, dialectal) stekske

Derived terms

• luciferboekje
• luciferdoos
• luciferkop
• strijklucifer
• veiligheidslucifer

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *lewk-

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *léwks

Proto-Italic *louks

Latin lūx

Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-

Proto-Indo-European *-ós

Proto-Indo-European *bʰorós

Proto-Italic *-foros

Latin -fer

Latin lūcifer

From lūx (“light”) + -fer (“-carrying”). Compare Old Armenian լուսաւոր (lusawor) and Ancient Greek φωσφόρος (phōsphóros).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɫuː.kɪ.fɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈluː.t͡ʃi.fer]

Adjective

lūcifer (feminine lūcifera, neuter lūciferum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)

1. light-bringing

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er).

	singular		plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	lūcifer	lūcifera	lūciferum	lūciferī	lūciferae	lūcifera
genitive	lūciferī	lūciferae	lūciferī	lūciferōrum	lūciferārum	lūciferōrum
dative	lūciferō	lūciferae	lūciferō	lūciferīs
accusative	lūciferum	lūciferam	lūciferum	lūciferōs	lūciferās	lūcifera
ablative	lūciferō	lūciferā	lūciferō	lūciferīs
vocative	lūcifer	lūcifera	lūciferum	lūciferī	lūciferae	lūcifera

Descendants

• → Catalan: lucífer
• → English: lucifer
  • → Dutch: lucifer
• → Spanish: lucífero
• Romanian: luceafăr
• →⇒ English: luciferous

Noun

lūcifer m (genitive lūciferī); second declension

1. alternative letter-case form of Lūcifer

Declension

Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).

	singular	plural
nominative	lūcifer	lūciferī
genitive	lūciferī	lūciferōrum
dative	lūciferō	lūciferīs
accusative	lūciferum	lūciferōs
ablative	lūciferō	lūciferīs
vocative	lūcifer	lūciferī

References

• “lucifer”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “lucifer”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “lucifer”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “lucifer”, in The Perseus Project (1999), Perseus Encyclopedia‎^[2]
• “lucifer”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “lucifer”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray