Allure

How to spell allure

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce allure

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does allure mean?

1. nounThe quality of being powerfully and mysteriously attractive or tempting.
2. verbTo attract or tempt someone by offering something desirable.

Allure in a sentence

• noun

  The allure of a higher salary persuaded her to change jobs.

• verb

  Cheap flights and warm weather can allure travellers to the coast in winter.

• noun

  The old harbour town has a quiet allure that draws visitors back each summer.

• verb

  Retailers use bright window displays to allure shoppers inside.

Where does allure come from?

Language of origin: French

Allure came into English in the fifteenth century from the Old French verb aleurier, meaning 'to attract' or 'to draw toward by enticement'. That French verb was built from the prefix a-, meaning 'to' or 'toward', and the noun luere, the 'lure' used in falconry: a bundle of feathers swung on a cord to call a hawk back to the falconer's hand. The image, then, is literally of drawing a bird in with bait, and the modern sense of a tempting, magnetic charm grew directly out of that idea of enticement. The lure element itself reached French from a Germanic source, which is why the same little word survives independently in English as 'lure'. The spelling trap is the single l after the a (it is al-, not all-) followed by the -ure ending, since writers often double the l by mistake or default to an -or or -our spelling.

How the word is built

• al- (from Old French a-: to, toward)
• lure (a bait or enticement)