lira
Americannoun
-
lire,
plural
-
liras
plural
-
a coin and monetary unit of Italy until the euro was adopted, equal to 100 centesimi. L., Lit.
-
a monetary unit of Malta, San Marino, and the Vatican City until the euro was adopted.
-
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
-
the former standard monetary unit of Italy, San Marino, and the Vatican City, divided into 100 centesimi; replaced by the euro in 2002
-
Also called: pound. the standard monetary unit of Turkey, divided into 100 kuruş
-
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:
Turkey's biggest clubs generate substantial income in euros through Uefa competition while many domestic operating costs remain in Turkish lira.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
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
A weaker dollar weighed, and the Indian rupee and Turkish lira also hit Pernod’s top line.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
"We will provide support of up to the equivalent of 100,000 US dollars in Turkish lira per episode for our TV series" broadcast abroad, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy told a news conference.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
I paid him when it was over and tipped him half a lira.
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
Hatzigeorgiou says he often finds bags and backpacks with Turkish liras or packets of medicine in Turkish discarded around the village by people on the move.
From Reuters ● Aug. 25, 2023
"Now, one kilogram of onion is 30 liras," he said.
From BBC ● May 4, 2023
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
A loaf of bread still sells at 2.5 liras, or about 20 cents, but bakeries are complaining that their costs are closer to 4 liras a loaf, he said.
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 Thomas Stevens
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
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 cash introduction saw the new euro notes and coins quickly replace German marks, French francs and Italian lire in ATMs, cash registers, and wallets and purses.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 31, 2021
During one production, said Sheridan Hill, a writer preparing a personal biography of Mr. Lazar for his family, U.S. actors in Italy were concerned about the currency and didn’t want to be paid in lire.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 9, 2016
“Five million lire for a broken wooden wing?”
From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke
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.
