Lewd
Webster's Dictionary [1]
(1): ( superl.) Not clerical; laic; laical; hence, unlearned; simple.
(2): ( superl.) Belonging to the lower classes, or the rabble; idle and lawless; bad; vicious.
(3): ( superl.) Given to the promiscuous indulgence of lust; dissolute; lustful; libidinous.
(4): ( superl.) Suiting, or proceeding from, lustfulness; involving unlawful sexual desire; as, lewd thoughts, conduct, or language.
King James Dictionary [2]
LEWD, a. Heb.
1. Given to the unlawful indulgence of lust addicted to fornication or adultery dissolute lustful libidinous.
2. Proceeding from unlawful lust as lewd actions. 3. Wicked vile profligate licentious. Acts 27 .
LEWD, a. L. gnes, from geno. Lay laical not clerical. Obs.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [3]
LEWD. In the AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘lewd’ does not always mean ‘lustful,’ as it does now. That meaning, indeed, is not found in the Apocr. [Note: Apocrypha, Apocryphal.] or NT. There the meaning is simply ‘wicked,’ as Acts 17:5 ‘certain lewd fellows of the baser sort.’ So ‘lewdness’ is usually simply ‘wickedness.’
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [4]
( Πονηρός , Bad, Acts 17:5), Lewdness ( Ῥαδιοϋργημα , Mischief Acts 18:14), are used elsewhere in their proper sense of Licentiousness ( זַמָּה , etc., Judges 20:6; Ezekiel often; Jeremiah 11:15; Jeremiah 13:27; Hosea 6:9; once for נַבְלוּת , the Parts Of Shame, Hosea 2:10).
