lustrum
/ˈlʌstɹəm/
"lustrum" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lustrum” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A lustration: a ceremonial purification of the people of Rome performed every five years after the census.
Corpus desk
Index EN-lustrum · lustrum · English
lustrum · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "L" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lustrum |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlʌstɹəm/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “lustrum” in English
Rare enough to double-check
lustrum is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈlʌstɹəm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for lustrum in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin lūstrum. The correct English form is lustrum, spelled L-U-S-T-R-U-M.
Definition
- 1A lustration: a ceremonial purification of the people of Rome performed every five years after the census.
- 2Synonym of quinquennium: Any 5-year period.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how lustrum appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[A]ll theſe Magiſtrates were elected by, and from, the whole promiſcuous Body of the People in their public Aſſemblies; that after the Inſtitution of Cenſors, it was look'd upon as a Matter of Form only, that they should enroll the new Senators at the next general Luſtrum, or Survey of the Commonwealth; […]
The interval of time supposed to have been denoted by the Roman Lustrum has been made the subject of controversy. No one however as far as we know has ever assumed it at less than four years or as more than five; so that the status quæstionis may so far be considered as fixed and agreed upon: and all that we have to do at present is to begin with inquirin…
Etymology
From Latin lūstrum.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.