Lucubration
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Intense and prolonged study or meditation; especially, late at night. countable, uncountable
"The virtue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was of a severer and more laborious kind. It was the well-earned harvest of many a learned conference, of many a patient lecture, and many a midnight lucubration."
- 2 laborious cogitation wordnet
- 3 The product of such study; often, writings. countable, uncountable
"With his own ghostly voice, he had exhorted me, on the sacred consideration of my filial duty and reverence towards him,—who might reasonably regard himself as my official ancestor,—to bring his mouldy and moth-eaten lucubrations before the public."
- 4 a solemn literary work that is the product of laborious cogitation wordnet
Example
More examples"The virtue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was of a severer and more laborious kind. It was the well-earned harvest of many a learned conference, of many a patient lecture, and many a midnight lucubration."
Etymology
From the Latin lūcubrātiō (“nighttime study”), from lūcubrō (“work by artificial light”), from lūx (“light”). Compare luculent.
More for "lucubration"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.