Luxury (LUK-shuh-ree)
Category:
Business & Money
Origin
Entered English through Old French luxurie, from Latin luxuria, meaning “excess, extravagance, riotous living, or indulgence.”
Language Root
Latin — luxuria (“excess, extravagance, indulgence”), related to luxus, meaning “excess” or “extravagance.”
Original Meaning
Excessive indulgence or extravagance, often carrying a negative moral sense rather than today’s glamorous association with expensive things.
Evolution Over Time
For centuries, luxury often suggested excess, self-indulgence, or behavior beyond what was considered necessary or proper. As wealth, trade, and consumer culture expanded, the word increasingly became associated with expensive comforts, superior craftsmanship, exclusivity, and desirable experiences. What could once sound like a criticism gradually became something companies proudly sold.
Modern Usage
A state of exceptional comfort or pleasure, or an expensive and desirable product or experience that goes beyond basic necessity.
Word Family
Luxury, Luxurious, Luxuriously, Luxuriate, Luxuriant
Related Concept
Wealth, Status, Consumption, Exclusivity, Fashion, Prestige, Comfort, Branding
Narrative
Luxury wasn’t originally a compliment. Its Latin ancestor luxuria evoked excess, extravagance, and indulgence—the idea of having or enjoying more than was necessary. Over centuries, that moral warning underwent an extraordinary transformation. Excess became aspiration. Today luxury appears on hotels, automobiles, watches, clothing, homes, and vacations as a promise of superior quality and exclusivity. The word didn’t simply change meaning; something once criticized as excess became something modern culture learned to advertise.