lira da braccio

American  

[leer-uh duh brah-choh, -chee-oh, lee-rah dah braht-chaw] / ˈlɪər ə də ˈbrɑ tʃoʊ, -tʃiˌoʊ, ˌli rɑ dɑ ˈbrɑt tʃɔ /

noun

• liras da braccio,
  plural
• lire da braccio
  plural

1. a many-stringed musical instrument of the 15th and 16th centuries, played with a bow and used for polyphonic improvisation.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• liras da braccio
  plural
• lire da braccio
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of lira da braccio

< Italian: lyre for the arm

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lira da braccio

The exhibit also approaches issues of gender, through the elaborately decorated 1511 lira da braccio, a bowed string instrument of the Renaissance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

The show also features numerous loans from private collectors and institutions, most notably a rare figural lira da braccio from Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum and an exquisitely decorated hurdy-gurdy from London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Cloux April 14, ’18 Tomorrow evening, Pietro Papini will play his lira da braccio for us, music I composed in Milan, when friend Atalante and I played and sang.

From Voices from the Past by Paul Alexander Bartlett

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