For most of history, the ultimate dream of most people has been the desire to live in luxury. What does this coveted concept mean, where did it come from in Russian, and how is it translated into others? Let's find out about it.
The meaning of the word "luxury" in the explanatory dictionary
In almost all Russian dictionaries, the noun in question is used to denote life in wealth. What is so called not just prosperity, but the presence of all goods beyond measure, even at the most demanding or sophisticated requests.
Interestingly, in the monumental work of Ozhegov, the lexical meaning of luxury is interpreted more negatively than that of Efremova and Dahl. So, Sergei Ivanovich explains this noun as an excess in material wealth, as well as pleasures.
Dmitry Nikolayevich Ushakov in his dictionary, in addition to all of the above meanings, is the first and only to use the term "luxury" as a predicate (despite the fact that it is a noun). It is possible that such a tradition was founded by comedian writers Ilf and Petrov. So in their second novel about the adventures of the charming and resourceful swindler Ostap Bender (“The Golden Calf”), there is the phrase “A car is not a luxury, but a means of transportation”, which today has long become a winged one. Given that the novel was published in 1931, and four volumes of Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language were published during 1935-1940. - it turns out that the great linguist simply recorded a new-fangled tendency to use the noun “luxury” as a predicate, which became popular after the publication of the novel.
An interesting fact: in the old English, the word “luxury” was also used to refer to concepts such as “debauchery” and “debauchery”. And although Russian dictionaries do not fix such an interpretation, a similar attitude to the term in question can be found in many Russian classics.
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 do not know. Moreover, they are absolutely sure that this concept came from the Pre-Slavic language.
This is evidenced by the fact that in most other Slavic languages almost identical names are present. Moreover, far from each of them they have similar meanings.
So in Ukrainian ("rozіsh") and Belarusian ("ripening") these are similar words, which mean the same thing as in Russian. But in others - not always. For example, the Polish noun roskosz is translated as "pleasure", and the term "luxury" of the word has the term luksusowy. From Slovak and Czech rozkoš is translated as “pleasure”. In Bulgarian, the term “mowing” is sometimes used in its original meaning, but more often the word “lux” is used instead.
How the concept in question is translated 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 peoples use for this concept.
So in the "ancestor" of most modern languages (Latin) in ancient times, the noun luxuria appeared. It was used to denote the concepts of "abundance" and "splendor." In later times, luxus appeared on the basis of this word, 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, the words luxury and luxe appeared in English, in French - le luxe, in German - luxus, in Italian - lusso, and in Spanish - lujo.
It is worth noting 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
Having found the answer to the question: “What is luxury?”, It is worth knowing which synonyms can be chosen for the noun under consideration.
The most famous words-analogues are “chic”, “splendor” and “splendor”. In a certain context, the terms “abundance”, “wealth”, “excess”, and less commonly “squandering” are also used.
Antonyms
In contrast to synonyms, antonyms to the considered noun can be selected much less. They are usually associated with poverty and deprivation.
In this capacity, the words “poverty”, “squalor”, “poverty” and of course “poverty” can be used. The use of the term "asceticism" is sometimes permissible.
How to relate to luxury in different periods of history
Having learned what luxury is, it will be interesting to study: how did society relate to 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 gets the opportunity to satisfy absolutely all his whims, he loses the incentive to develop. From here begins moral and then physical degradation.
In this regard, in different periods of history, the attitude towards luxury has constantly changed. It can be compared to an unreasonable woman on a diet. She limits herself in everything, refuses not only harmful, but also wholesome food in order to lose weight. But from time to time she breaks down and eats everything without measure, harming not only her figure, but also her health.
In the era of the absolute dominance of Christianity in Europe, humanity was urged to take care of 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 at all biblical fanaticism led to the destruction of not only many interesting books and musical instruments, but also hygiene items.
In other eras, 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 centuries. Instead, the new “idol" is success. In other words, in order to belong to the elite, today it is not enough to be fabulously rich; you still need to succeed in some field. It is worth noting that this position encourages wealthy people to develop and do something, rather than drowning in idle luxury, as was the case in the past.