lucifer

name

1. (literary)The planet Venus as the daystar (the morning star).

   “Near-synonyms: Vesper, Hesperus, evening star, Venus”

2. The King of Babylon who was compared to the planet Venus in first the Wycliffe version then the King James Version of Isaiah 14:12; it is unclear whether this verse refers to a specific king or to a representation of the entire line of kings of Babylon.
3. Satan, the Devil.

noun

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis)Ellipsis of lucifer match, sulfur or phosphorus friction matches.

   “The invention of the Lucifer Match has brought with it many dangers. In one year, in London, there were published thirty-nine accounts of serious conflagrations through children playing with lucifers, the igniting of the matches, and the careless use of them... To guard against the recurrence of these sad results has been invented "the Safety Match," or a match which cannot ignite by friction with ordinary substances...”

   “While you’ve a lucifer to light your fag, Smile, boys, that’s the style”

   “In the era of Twain and Grant cigar-smoking paraphernalia consisted mainly of a cigar cutter; the cigar itself was lit with a lucifer (safety match).”