Lust v.

literary and arch. Also 4 loste, 4–7 luste. [f. LUST sb.; cf. ON. losta, and LIST v.¹]

  † 1.  trans. To please, delight (also absol.); pass. and refl. to be pleased or delighted. Obs.

c. 1230.  Hali Meid., 34. Hare muchele vnþeaw, þet bereð ham ase beastes to al þet ham lusteð.

a. 1300.  E. E. Psalter lxxvi. 3. And i am lusted [Vulg. delectatus sum].

1340.  Ayenb., 246. Þer he him uetteþ, þer he him losteþ, þer he him resteþ.

c. 1430.  Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, III. vii. (1869), 139. This is interieccioun sorweful wer inne is no thing that lusteth.

  † b.  intr. To delight in (something). Obs.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 3869. Noght ferfull, ne furse,… Louet he no lede þat lustide in wrange.

  † 2.  impers. Me lusteth: I have a desire. Obs.

1390.  Gower, Conf., II. 213. Him lusteth of no ladi chiere.

a. 1553.  [see LIST v.¹ 1 b].

1555.  W. Watreman, Fardle Facions, I. v. 55. As thoughe me lusteth ware lawe.

  † 3.  intr. To desire, choose, wish. a. Const. inf.

  In the first quotation the verb may be impersonal: cf. LIST v.¹ 1, quot. a. 1300.

a. 1425.  Cursor M., 22601 (Trin.). No creature shal luste [Cott., etc. list] play, Seint petur shal be doumbe þat day.

1459.  Somerset Medieval Wills (1901), 192. Such time as God lustith to calle you owte of this present life.

1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 24. Who so lusteth to rede this lytell treatyse.

1562–3.  Jack Jugler (Grosart, 1873), 43. You may saye … That you lusted not this night any supper make.

1563.  Homilies, II. Holy Ghost, II. (1859), 463. He that lust to see examples, let him search their lives.

1586.  A. Day, Eng. Secretary, I. (1625), 45. Insomuch as he that never lusted to helpe others, was not now able to helpe himselfe.

  † b.  With ellipsis of inf. (Chiefly in clauses introduced by relatives, when, where, etc.) Obs.

1526.  Tindale, Matt. xvii. 12. They … have done vnto him whatsoever they lusted.

1536.  in Strype, Cranmer, II. (1694), 36. A man is at his choiss to choose him what proctor he lust best.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., II. vii. 11. Do not I kings create,… And, whom I lust, do heape with glory and renowne?

1605.  Camden, Rem. (1637), 403. Here is Elderton lying in dust, Or lying Elderton, chuse which you lust.

1618.  M. Baret, Horsemanship, I. 70. In letting him doe what hee lust, hee will become so stubborne and idle [etc.].

  † c.  refl. in the same sense. Obs.

a. 1568.  Ascham, Scholem., I. (Arb.), 50. To giue them licence to liue as they lust them selues.

1583.  Stubbes, Anat. Abus., I. (1879), 34. To flaunt it out in what apparell he lusteth himself.

1599.  Hakluyt, Voy., II. I. 271. They rate the goods without reason as they lust themselues.

  † d.  trans. To desire. Obs. (Cf. LIST v.¹ 3.)

1648.  Sanderson, Serm. (1653), 4. The Spirit and the flesh are contraries, and they lust contrary things.

  4.  intr. To have a strong, excessive or inordinate desire. Const. for, after, † unto; occas. with inf. or noun-clause. arch.

1530.  Tindale, Deut. xiv. 26. Goo … and bestowe that moneye on what soeuer thy soule lusteth after.

1530.  Palsgr., 616/1. I luste or longe for a thyng, as a woman with chylde doth.

1563.  Homilies, II. Rogation Wk., II. (1859), 492. If we be an hungred, we lust for bread.

1611.  Bible, Gal. v. 17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that yee cannot doo the things that yee would.

a. 1701.  Sedley, Tyrant of Crete, II. iv. So barbarous a place which dares do Any thing it lusts unto without regard Of laws or hospitality.

1761.  Sterne, Tr. Shandy, IV. xxii. I have lusted earnestly, and endeavoured carefully … that these little books … might stand instead of many bigger books.

1882.  Pop. Sci. Monthly, June, 211. All those who lusted after the gains and possessions of the Jews.

1898.  Pall Mall Mag., June, 221. The … Spaniards lusting for their destruction.

1898.  G. W. Steevens, With Kitchener to Khartum, 150. Charging with the cold bayonet, as they lusted to.

  b.  spec. of sexual desire.

1526.  Tindale, Matt. v. 28. Whosoever eyeth a wyfe, lustynge affter her, hathe committed advoutrie with her alredy in his hert.

1596.  Spenser, F. Q., IV. ix. 21. But Paridell of loue did make no threasure, But lusted after all that him did moue.

1605.  Shaks., Lear, IV. vi. 166. Thou hotly lusts to vse her in that kind, for which thou whip’st her.

1634.  Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 200. Societie with that sex, is much lusted after by all inflamed Asiatiques.

1727.  Swift, Circumcision E. Curll, Wks. 1755, III. I. 163. Instead of lusting after the real wives and daughters of our rich citizens, they covet nothing but their money and estates.

1838.  Lytton, Leila, I. vi. Yet dost thou lust after the daughter of our despised race.