1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Lucre

LUCRE (Lat. lucrum, gain; the Indo-European root is seen in Gr. ἀπολάυειν, to enjoy, and in Ger. Lohn, wages), a term now only used in the disparaging sense of unworthy profit, or money that is the object of greed, especially in the expression “filthy lucre” (1 Tim. iii. 3). In the adjective “lucrative,” profitable, there is, however, no sense of disparagement. In Scots law the term “lucrative succession” (lucrativa acquisitio) is used of the taking by an heir, during the lifetime of his ancestor, of a free grant of any part of the heritable property.