WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Lu"ci*fer
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [L., bringing light, n., the morning star, fr. lux, lucis, light + ferre to bring.]
Definition : 1. The planet Venus, when appearing as the morning star; -- applied in Isaiah by a metaphor to a king of Babylon. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning ! how art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations ! Is. xiv. 12. Tertullian and Gregory the Great understood this passage of Isaiah in reference to the fall of Satan; in consequence of which the name Lucifer has since been applied to, Satan. Kitto.

2. Hence, Satan. How wretched Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors! . . . When he falls, he falls like Lucifer, Never to hope again. Shak.

3. A match made of a sliver of wood tipped with a combustible substance, and ignited by friction; -- called also lucifer match, and locofoco. See Locofoco.

4. (Zo?l.)

Defn: A genus of free-swimming macruran Crustacea, having a slender body and long appendages.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913