lira

See also: Lira, Lirą, Líra, liră, lirã, lirą, and líra

English

Etymology 1

From Italian lira, from Latin lībra (partly via Turkish lira, Arabic لِيرَة (līra), Maltese lira, Greek λίρα (líra), and Hebrew לִירָה (lirá), all of which are originally from the Italian). Doublet of arratel, libbra, Libra, libra, litra, litre, livre, and rottol.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪəɹə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪəɹə

Noun

lira (plural lire or lira or liras)

1. The basic unit of currency in Turkey.
2. The currency of Lebanon (also pound), Syria (also pound), Jordan (also dinar)
3. The former currency of Italy, Malta, San Marino, Cyprus and the Vatican City, superseded by the euro

Noun

lira (plural lirot or liroth or liras)

1. The former currency of Israel, superseded by the sheqel.

Translations

basic unit of currency in Turkey

• Albanian: lirë (sq) f
• Arabic: لِيرَة f (līra)
• Armenian: լիրա (hy) (lira)
• Asturian: llira (ast) f
• Azerbaijani: lirə (az)
• Belarusian: лі́ра f (líra)
• Bengali: লিরা (bn) (lira)
• Bulgarian: ли́ра f (líra)
• Catalan: lira (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 里拉 (zh) (lǐlā), 土耳其里拉 (Tǔ'ěrqí lǐlā)

• Czech: lira (cs) f
• Dutch: lira (nl) m or f, lire (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: liro (eo)
• Estonian: liir (et)
• Faroese: liri m
• Finnish: liira (fi)
• French: livre (fr) f
• Galician: lira (gl) f
• Georgian: ლირა (lira)
• Greek: λίρα (el) f (líra)
• Hindi: लीरा m (līrā)
• Ido: liro (io)
• Indonesian: lira (id)
• Italian: lira (it) f
• Japanese: リラ (ja) (rira)
• Kazakh: лира (lıyra)
• Korean: 리라 (ko) (rira)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: lîre (ku), lîra (ku)

• Kyrgyz: лира (lira)
• Latvian: lira f
• Lithuanian: lira f
• Macedonian: лира f (lira)
• Malay: lira
• Maltese: lira f
• Māori: rira
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: лир (lir)

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: لیرِه (fa) (lire)

• Polish: lira (pl) f
• Portuguese: lira (pt) f
• Romanian: liră (ro) f
• Russian: ли́ра (ru) f (líra)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ли̑ра f

  Latin: lȋra (sh) f

• Slovak: líra f
• Slovene: lira (sl) f
• Spanish: lira (es) f
• Tajik: лира (lira)
• Tatar: лира (lira)
• Thai: ลีรา
• Turkish: lira (tr), Türk lirası, ₺ (tr) (symbol), TRY (tr) (abbreviation)
• Turkmen: lira
• Ukrainian: лі́ра (uk) f (líra)
• Urdu: لِیرَہ m (līra)
• Uyghur: لىرا (lira)
• Uzbek: lira (uz)

currency of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, former currency of Italy, etc.

• Arabic: لِيرَة f (līra) or لَيْرَة f (layra), لِيرَا f (līrā)
• Asturian: llira (ast) f
• Belarusian: лі́ра f (líra)
• Bulgarian: ли́ра f (líra)
• Catalan: lira (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 里拉 (zh) (lǐlā)

• Czech: lira (cs) f
• Dutch: lire (nl) m or f
• Faroese: liri m
• Finnish: liira (fi)
• French: livre (fr) f, (Italy, Malta) lire (fr) f
• Galician: lira (gl) f
• German: Lira (de) f
• Greek: λίρα (el) f (líra)
• Hebrew: לִירָה (he) f (líra)
• Italian: lira (it)
• Japanese: リラ (ja) (rira)
• Korean: 리라 (ko) (rira)
• Malay: lira
• Maltese: lira f
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: лир (lir)

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: لیرِه (fa) (lire)

• Polish: lir (pl) m
• Portuguese: lira (pt) f
• Romanian: liră (ro) f
• Russian: ли́ра (ru) f (líra)
• Spanish: lira (es) f
• Turkish: liret (tr) (Italian)
• Ukrainian: лі́ра (uk) f (líra)

See also

• ₺
• £

Etymology 2

From Ukrainian ліра (lira), ultimately related to the Byzantine lyra (Ancient Greek λύρα (lúra)). Doublet of Lyra, lyra, and lyre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪəɹə/
• Rhymes: -ɪəɹə

Noun

lira

1. A Ukrainian folk musical instrument similar to the hurdy-gurdy.

Etymology 3

From Latin līra (“furrow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪɹə/
• Rhymes: -aɪɹə
• Homophones: lyra, Lyra

Noun

lira (plural lirae)

1. Any of a set of fine ridges on the shells of some molluscs

Etymology 4

Noun

lira

1. Alternative form of lyra.
   • 1940, Curt Sachs, The History of Musical Instruments, New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., page 275:

     The first evidence of the Byzantine lira is in a Persian literary source of the ninth century.

   • 1976, Musicological Annual, page 118:

     Some instruments comprise types which are found, more or less unchanged, also with various nations and periods (recorder, shawm), whereas others belong to smaller regions (byzantine lira, rectangular harp) or only to the territory of Serbia and Macedonia (drums, larger shawms, especially in the Turkish period).

   • 1977, Laurence Wright, “The Medieval Gittern and Citole: A Case of Mistaken Identity”, in The Galpin Society Journal:

     Being an approximate synonym of cithara, the word lyra is most often applied to the harp, but one also finds it interpreted as the Germanic lyre, Byzantine lira (equated in turn with the Arabic rebab), hurdy-gurdy, citole or gittern, lute, etc.

See also

• lira da braccio, lira de braccio

Anagrams

• Lair, aril, lair, lari, liar, rail, rial

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [ˈli.ɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈli.ɾa]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɾa

Etymology 1

From Latin libra.

Noun

lira f (plural lires)

1. lira (currency)

Related terms

• lliura

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin lyra, from Ancient Greek λύρα (lúra). First attested in the 15th century.

Noun

lira f (plural lires)

1. lyre (an ancient stringed musical instrument)

Related terms

• líric
• lírica

Further reading

• “lira”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “lira” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “lira”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Chichewa

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *-dɪ̀da.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɽi.ɽa/

Verb

-lira (infinitive kulíra)

1. to cry
2. to weep
3. to wail, bewail
4. to sob
5. to mourn
6. to produce noise (of an animal e.g. bleating)
7. to yelp
8. to chirr
9. to clang
10. to croak
11. to ring (e.g. phone)
12. to sound
13. to seep through
14. to toll, to knell (of a bell)
15. to desire
16. to demand
17. to need

Derived terms

• Verbal derivations:
  • Applicative: -lirira
  • Causative: -liritsa
  • Negative: -salira
  • Reduplicative: -liralira
  • Repetitive: -liranso
  • Other formations: -lira maliro (“to mourn”)

• Nominal derivations:
  • maliro (“corpse, funeral”)

See also

• -dederera (“to cry loudly”)

References

• Steven Paas (2016), Oxford Chichewa-English/English - Chichewa Dictionary‎^[1], Oxford University Press, page 263

Czech

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *leyH-der.

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰromder.

Proto-Italic *līðrā?

Latin lībra

Italian lirabor.

Czech lira

Borrowed from Italian lira, from Latin lībra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɪra]
• Rhymes: -ɪra
• Hyphenation: li‧ra
• Homophone: lyra

Noun

lira f

1. lira (former currency of Italy) [19th c.]
2. lira (currency of Turkey)
3. lira (former currency of Israel)

Declension

Declension of lira (hard feminine)

	singular	plural
nominative	lira	liry
genitive	liry	lir
dative	liře	lirám
accusative	liru	liry
vocative	liro	liry
locative	liře	lirách
instrumental	lirou	lirami

Related terms

• libra

Further reading

• “lira”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “lira”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Brétigny-sur-Orge)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Verb

lira

1. third-person singular future of lire

Anagrams

• rail

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈli.ra/
• Rhymes: -ira
• Hyphenation: lì‧ra

Etymology 1

From Latin lībra.

Noun

lira f (plural lire)

1. lira

   Coordinate terms: L., £, ₤

2. (with una (“one”)) two cents, farthing, a worthless amount or in the negative no money at all

   Synonyms: un cazzo, una sega, un centesimo, un soldo

   –'Sto frigorifero l'ho pagato una lira
   –Si vede, non funziona!

   –I bought this fridge for pennies
   –Of course you did, it's not running!

   Ma andare a bere cosa, ché non c'ho una lira?

   What do you mean going out to have drinks? I'm broke!

Descendants

• Turkish: lira

Etymology 2

From Latin lyra, from Ancient Greek λύρᾱ (lúrā).

Noun

lira f (plural lire)

1. lyre

   Synonym: cetra

   • 1959, Indro Montanelli, “Capitolo tredicesimo: Licurgo [Thirteenth Chapter: Lykourgos]”, in Storia dei Greci [History of the Greeks], 39th edition, Milan, published 1973, page 119:

     Dopo Terpandro venne Timoteo, che tentò di perfezionare la lira portandone le corde da sette a undici.

     After Terpander came Timotheus, who tried to perfect the lyre increasing the number of its strings from seven to eleven.

Anagrams

• Arli, lari

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *loizā, from Proto-Indo-European *lóyseh₂ (“following, track; furrow”), from *leys- (“track, furrow, trace, trail”).

Cognate with Oscan feminine ablative plural 𐌋𐌖𐌉𐌔𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌚𐌔 (luisarifs, the name of a month, perhaps "in which the furrows are drawn"), Old High German leisa (“track”) (German Gleis), Old Church Slavonic лѣха (lěxa, “field bed, furrow”), Old Prussian lyso (“field bed”), Proto-Germanic *lizaną (“to know, understand”), *laizijaną (“teach”), *liʀnōn (“learn”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈliː.ra]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈliː.ra]

Noun

līra f (genitive līrae); first declension

1. the earth thrown up between two furrows, a ridge
2. (agriculture) furrow

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	līra	līrae
genitive	līrae	līrārum
dative	līrae	līrīs
accusative	līram	līrās
ablative	līrā	līrīs
vocative	līra	līrae

Derived terms

• dēlērātiō
• dēlīrāmentum
• dēlīrātiō
• dēlīrātor
• dēlīritās
• dēlīrō
• dēlīrus
• līrātim
• līrātiō
• līrātus

References

• “lira”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "lira", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “lira”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Leti

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

lira

1. language

References

• Aone van Engelenhoven (2004), Leti, a language of Southwest Maluku, Leiden: Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, →ISBN, page 421

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Doublet of lire.

Noun

lira m (definite singular liraen, indefinite plural liraar or liraer or lira, definite plural liraane or liraene)

1. (numismatics) lira (currency of Malta)
2. (numismatics) lira (currency of Turkey)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

lira f

1. definite singular of lire
2. definite singular of lire

References

• “lira” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *lihwizô, *ligwizô (“thigh; groin”), from Proto-Indo-European *lekʷs-, *lewks- (“groin”). More at lire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈliː.rɑ/
• Rhymes: -iː.rɑ

Noun

līra m (nominative plural līran)

1. fleshy part of the body without fat or bone; brawn; muscle

Declension

Weak:

	singular	plural
nominative	līra	līran
accusative	līran	līran
genitive	līran	līrena
dative	līran	līrum

Derived terms

• līreht
• spearlīra

Related terms

• lēow

Descendants

• Middle English: lire, lyre
  • English: lire

Polish

lira

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈli.ra/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ira
• Syllabification: li‧ra

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin lyra, from Ancient Greek λύρα (lúra).

Noun

lira f

1. lyre (stringed musical instrument)
2. black grouse's tail

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Maltese lira, from Italian lira, from Latin lībra.

Noun

lira f

1. (historical) lira (former unit of currency of Malta)

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Turkish lira, from Italian lira, from Latin lībra.

Noun

lira f

1. lira (currency of Turkey)

Declension

Declension of lira

	singular	plural
nominative	lira	liry
genitive	liry	lir
dative	lirze	lirom
accusative	lirę	liry
instrumental	lirą	lirami
locative	lirze	lirach
vocative	liro	liry

Derived terms

adjective

• lirowy

Related terms

noun

• lir

Further reading

• “lira”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “lira”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈli.ɾɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈli.ɾɐ/

• Rhymes: -iɾɐ

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Ancient Greek λύρᾱ (lúrā)der.

Latin lyralbor.

Portuguese lira

Learned borrowing from Latin lyra.

Noun

lira f (plural liras)

1. lyre (a stringed musical instrument)

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *leyH-der.

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰromder.

Proto-Italic *līðrā?

Latin lībra

Italian lirabor.

Portuguese lira

Borrowed from Italian lira, from Latin lībra.

Noun

lira f (plural liras)

1. lira (unit of currency)

Further reading

• “lira”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “lira”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lyra, from Ancient Greek λύρα (lúra).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lîːra/
• Hyphenation: li‧ra

Noun

lȋra f (Cyrillic spelling ли̑ра)

1. lyre

Declension

Declension of lira

	singular	plural
nominative	lira	lire
genitive	lire	lira
dative	liri	lirama
accusative	liru	lire
vocative	liro	lire
locative	liri	lirama
instrumental	lirom	lirama

References

• “lira”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Slovene

Etymology

From Old French lire, from Latin lyra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /líːra/

Noun

lȋra f

1. lyre (musical instrument)

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Feminine, a-stem
nom. sing.	líra
gen. sing.	líre
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	líra	líri	líre
genitive (rodȋlnik)	líre	lír	lír
dative (dajȃlnik)	líri	lírama	líram
accusative (tožȋlnik)	líro	líri	líre
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	líri	lírah	lírah
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	líro	lírama	lírami

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈliɾa/ [ˈli.ɾa]
• Rhymes: -iɾa
• Syllabification: li‧ra

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Ancient Greek λύρᾱ (lúrā)der.

Latin lyrader.

Spanish lira

Derived from Latin lyra, from Ancient Greek λύρᾱ (lúrā, “lyre”).

Noun

lira f (plural liras)

1. lyre
2. (Mexico, slang) guitar

Derived terms

• ave lira
• gallo lira

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *leyH-der.

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰromder.

Proto-Italic *līðrā?

Latin lībra

Italian lirabor.

Spanish lira

Borrowed from Italian lira, from Latin lībra. Doublet of libra.

Noun

lira f (plural liras)

1. lira (former currency of Italy)

Further reading

• “lira”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Verb

lira (present lirar, preterite lirade, supine lirat, imperative lira)

1. (colloquial) to play (a sport, instrument or game)

   Synonyms: spela, (video games, slang) gibba

   lira fotboll

   play soccer

   lira gitarr

   play guitar

   lira gura

   play guitar

   With a slang term for guitar. Colloquial and likely tongue-in-cheek.

   lira Quake

   play Quake

Conjugation

Conjugation of lira (weak)

	active		passive
infinitive	lira		liras
supine	lirat		lirats
imperative	lira		—
imper. plural1	liren		—
	present	past	present	past
indicative	lirar	lirade	liras	lirades
ind. plural1	lira	lirade	liras	lirades
subjunctive2	lire	lirade	lires	lirades
present participle		lirande
past participle		lirad

¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Related terms

• lir

References

• “lira”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “lira”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “lira”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• ilar, liar

Tagalog

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish lira (“lyre”), from Latin lyra, from Ancient Greek λύρα (lúra).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈliɾa/ [ˈliː.ɾɐ]
• Rhymes: -iɾa
• Syllabification: li‧ra

Noun

lira (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜇ)

1. lyre

See also

• kudyapi

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish lira (“lira”), from Latin libra. Doublet of libra.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈliɾa/ [ˈliː.ɾɐ]
• Rhymes: -iɾa
• Syllabification: li‧ra

Noun

lira (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜇ)

1. lira (former currency of Italy)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈliɾaʔ/ [ˈliː.ɾɐʔ]
• Rhymes: -iɾaʔ
• Syllabification: li‧ra

Noun

lirà (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜇ)

1. swollen and reddened eyelids

Derived terms

• lirain

Anagrams

• iral, rali

Turkish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *leyH-der.

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰromder.

Proto-Italic *līðrā?

Latin lībra

Italian lirabor.

Ottoman Turkish لیره (lira)

Turkish lira

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish لیره, لیرا, from Italian lira, from Latin lībra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [l̠ʲí.ɾä]
• Hyphenation: li‧ra

Noun

lira (definite accusative lirayı, plural liralar)

1. lira (currency of Turkey)

   Synonyms: TRY, ₺

   Türk lirası ― the Turkish lira

2. livre, pound

   Mısır lirası ― the Egyptian pound

Declension

Declension of lira

	singular	plural
nominative	lira	liralar
definite accusative	lirayı	liraları
dative	liraya	liralara
locative	lirada	liralarda
ablative	liradan	liralardan
genitive	liranın	liraların

Related terms

• liralık

See also

• liret (“Italian lira”), İtalyan lireti