What is luxury? Meaning of the word

Almost the whole story, the ultimate dream of most people was the desire to live in luxury. What does this coveted concept mean, where did it come from in Russian and how does it translate into others? Let's find out about this.

The meaning of the word "luxury" in the explanatory dictionary

Practically in all Russian dictionaries the considered noun is used for a designation of a life in riches. What is it called not just prosperity, but the presence of all the benefits beyond measure, even for the most demanding or refined requests.

It is interesting that in the monumental work of Ozhegov, the lexical meaning of luxury is interpreted more negatively than that of Efremova and Dahl. Thus, Sergei Ivanovich explains this noun as excess in material goods, as well as pleasures.

Dmitry Ushakov in his dictionary, in addition to all the above values, the first and only advises also to use the term "luxury" as a predicate (in spite of the fact that this is a noun). It is possible that such a tradition was founded by writers-humorists Ilf and Petrov. So in their second novel about the adventures of the charming and resourceful cheater Ostap Bender ("The Golden Calf"), there is the phrase "The car is not a luxury, but a means of transportation", which has long since become a winged one. If we consider that the novel was published in 1931, and four volumes of the "Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language" Ushakov were published during the years 1935-1940. - it turns out, the great linguist simply fixed the newfangled tendency of using the noun "luxury" as a predicate, which became popular after the publication of the novel.

An interesting fact: in English in the old days the word "luxury" (luxury) was also used to refer to such concepts as "debauchery" and "debauchery." And although the Russian dictionaries do not fix such an interpretation, a similar attitude to the term in question can be found in many Russian classics.

The etymology of the term, as well as its analogues in other Slavic languages

Having considered the meaning of the word "luxury", it is worth paying attention to its origin. From which term this noun was formed, linguists are not known. At the same time, they are absolutely sure that this concept came from the Proto-Slavic language.

This is evidenced by the fact that in most other Slavic languages there are almost identical names. At the same time, they do not have the same meaning in each of them.

So in Ukrainian ("rokish") and Belarusian ("splash") these are similar words, which means the same thing as in Russian. But in others - not always. For example, the Polish noun roskosz translates as "pleasure", and the meaning "luxury" of the word has the term luksusowy. From Slovak and Czech rozkoš is translated as "pleasure". In Bulgarian, sometimes the term "cleavage" is used in its original meaning, but more often the word "luks" is used instead.

How does this concept translate into English, Spanish, Italian, German and French

Having learned what luxury is not only in Russian, but also in other Slavic languages, it is worthwhile to find out what term other nations use for this concept.

So in the "progenitor" of most modern languages (Latin) in ancient times there was a noun luxuria. It was used to refer to the concepts of "abundance" and "splendor". In later times, on the basis of this word luxus arose, which was used when they wanted to explain what luxury is.

After the death of the Roman Empire, most European languages "borrowed" the Latin name. Thus, in English appeared the words luxury and luxe, in French - le luxe, in German - luxus, in Italian - lusso, and in Spanish - lujo.

It should be noted that many Slavic languages also use the Latin term, which began to exist in them in parallel with the variations of the word "luxury".

Synonyms

Finding the answer to the question: "What is luxury?", It is worthwhile to find out which synonyms can be chosen for the noun in question.

The most famous analogy words are "chic", "splendor" and "splendor". In a certain context, the terms "abundance", "wealth", "excesses", and "wastefulness" are also used.

Antonyms

Unlike synonyms, the antonyms to the noun can be chosen much less. As a rule, they are associated with poverty and deprivation.

In this capacity, the words "poverty", "squalor", "poverty" and, of course, "poverty" can be used. Sometimes the use of the term "asceticism" is permissible.

How to treat luxury in different periods of history

Having learned what luxury is, it will be interesting to study: how society treated this phenomenon in different centuries of our era.

Most philosophers and sociologists perceived this concept as harmful to the individual. They believed that when a person has the opportunity to satisfy absolutely all his whims, he loses the impetus for development. From here begins the moral, and then the physical degradation.

In this regard, at different periods of history the attitude towards luxury has constantly changed. It can be compared to an unreasonable woman on a diet. It limits itself in everything, refuses not only from harmful, but also useful food, in order to lose weight. But periodically she breaks down and without measure eats everything, harming not only her figure, but also her health.

In the era of absolute domination of Christianity in Europe, humanity called for caring for the spiritual, ignoring bodily needs. In this regard, luxury was considered almost the cause of the most terrible sins (hence the outdated English meaning of "debauchery").

For example, struggling with excesses in Florence, the famous religious reformer Girolamo Savonarola burned all the objects that he associated with wealth. His excessive zeal and not biblical fanaticism led to the destruction of not only many interesting books and musical instruments, but also hygiene items.

In other times, luxury was perceived as a boon to society. So, it was believed that it allows the elite to enjoy life to the fullest, while contributing to the creation of new jobs for the poor.

In the modern world, the desire for luxury is no longer as strong as in the past. Instead, a new "idol" is success. In other words, to belong to the elite, today it is not enough to be fantastically rich, it is still necessary to achieve success in some field. It is worth noting that this position encourages wealthy people to develop and do something, rather than sink in idle luxury, as was customary in the past centuries.