English Explanatory Dictionary

lyre

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An ancient stringed musical instrument (a yoke lute chordophone) of Greek origin, consisting of two arms extending from a body to a crossbar (a yoke), and strings, parallel to the soundboard, connecting the body to the yoke.
  2. Any instrument of the same musicological classification; any yoke lute.
  3. A lyre-shaped sheet music holder that attaches to a wind instrument when a music stand is impractical.
  4. A composer of lyric poetry.
verb
  1. to play the lyre

Pronunciation

/ˈlaɪ.ə/ /lɑə̯ ~ lɑː/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lyre.wav /ˈlaɪ.ɚ/ /laɪɹ/ Lyre-Liar-us-eng.wav

Word forms

lyre lyres lyring lyred

Etymology

From Middle English lire (13th c.), from Old French lire, from Latin lyra, from Ancient Greek λύρᾱ (lúrā, “lyre, a stringed instrument with a sounding-board formed of the shell of a tortoise”). Doublet of lira, lyra, and Lyra.

Synonyms

yoke lute

Related words

Lyra lyrate lyrebird lyric lyrical harp

Derived words

bell lyre lyre-guitar lyreless lyrelike lyre snake lyre sponge lyretail lyre-tailed lyrichord lyriferous lyriform lyrism lyrist

Translations

Albanian: jongarsharki Albanian: sharkë Arabic: كِنَّارَة Armenian: քնար Basque: lira Bulgarian: лира Catalan: lira Chinese: 里拉 Coptic: ⲗⲩⲣⲁ Coptic: ⲕⲓⲑⲁⲣⲁ Czech: lyra Danish: lyre Dutch: lier Esperanto: liro Estonian: lüüra Faroese: lýri Finnish: lyyra French: lyre German: Leier German: Lyra Greek: λύρα Ancient Greek: λύρα Ancient Greek: κιθάρα Ancient Greek: φόρμιγξ Hebrew: כִּנּוֹר Hiligaynon: árpa Hungarian: líra Icelandic: lýra Ido: liro Irish: lir Italian: lira Japanese: ライアー Latin: lyra Lithuanian: lyra Occitan: lira Old English: hearpe Persian: چنگ Persian: چنگ رومی Piedmontese: lira Polish: lira Portuguese: lira Romanian: liră Russian: ли́ра Serbo-Croatian: lȋra Slovak: lýra Slovene: lira
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