lira
Americannoun
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a coin and monetary unit of Italy until the euro was adopted, equal to 100 centesimi. L., Lit.
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a monetary unit of Malta, San Marino, and the Vatican City until the euro was adopted.
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a silver, bronze, or chrome steel coin and monetary unit of Turkey, equal to 100 kurus; equal to 100 piasters before 1933; Turkish pound. TL.
noun
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the former standard monetary unit of Italy, San Marino, and the Vatican City, divided into 100 centesimi; replaced by the euro in 2002
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Also called: pound. the standard monetary unit of Turkey, divided into 100 kuruş
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the former standard monetary unit of Malta, divided into 100 cents or 1000 mils; replaced by the euro in 2008
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lira
1610–20; < Italian < Old Provençal lieura < Latin lībra pound
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Elsewhere, Turkey has drawn down about 60 metric tons from its reserves since the conflict began — about $8 billion worth of gold — to defend the lira, she said.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 4, 2026
The U.S. dollar nevertheless hit a record high against the Turkish lira on Wednesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
The volatility of the lira creates foreign-exchange risk.
From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025
Aydinlik says his cut per hire is about 40 Turkish lira, or $1.25.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 14, 2024
I paid him when it was over and tipped him half a lira.
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
The prosecutor's indictment, however, estimates total losses to Thodex investors at 356 million liras.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2023
Ford Otosan shares jumped 8.5% to 264.7 liras in response.
From Reuters ● Mar. 14, 2022
The head of the Turkish Banks Association, Alpaslan Cakar, told Turkish broadcaster Haberturk late Monday that 1 billion U.S. dollars had already been converted to liras after Erdogan’s announcement.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 21, 2021
“The rent has gone up from 1,500 liras to almost 2,500 liras since last year. I don’t know where this is all going.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2021
"Bring it round and let us see how it is ridden," they say, " and if we like it we will purchase it for fifty liras, and perhaps make you a present besides."
From Around the World on a Bicycle - Volume 1 From San Francisco to Teheran by Stevens, Thomas
He feeds lire into a public scale and, shocked by the number, embarks on a starvation diet so extreme he winds up passing out near the Uffizi Gallery.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2024
Last year, workers conserving adult shoes found an Italian 100 lire banknote in a lady’s high-heeled shoe that was also imprinted with the name Ranzini, which was a shoe manufacturer in Trieste.
From Seattle Times ● May 15, 2023
He said the Turkish government would offer families 10,000 Turkish lire, or around $530.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 9, 2023
When she was summoned to the Cinecitta studios, the hub of Italian cinema, she was offered 1,000 lire to sign.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2023
The race was for horses that had never won a race worth one thousand lire or more.
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
