luxury: [14] Luxury was originally a pejorative word, denoting ‘sinful self-indulgence’. Not until the 17th century did it begin to acquire its positive modern connotations of costliness, comfort, and desirability. It came via Old French from Latin luxuria ‘excess’, a derivative of luxus ‘excess, abundance, extravagance’. The Latin derived verb luxuriāre ‘grow profusely’ has given English luxuriant [16] and luxuriate [17].
