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livre

American  
[lee-ver, lee-vruh] / ˈli vər, ˈli vrə /

noun

  • livres
    plural
  1. a former money of account and group of coins of France, issued in coin form first in gold, then in silver, finally in copper, and discontinued in 1794.


livre British  
/ ˈliːvrə, livrə /

noun

  1. a former French unit of money of account, equal to 1 pound of silver

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of livre

1545–55; < Middle French, Old French < Latin lībra balance, 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:

This is the challenge the village du livre must now confront.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 26, 2021

Juan Gris' "Le livre" went under the hammer for 10.3 million pounds, just short of the low estimate of 12 million.

From Reuters ● Feb. 8, 2012

And whether, for all its show-bateauing, this livre isn't really a load of aurochs.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 13, 2010

A livre was worth about three cents now.

From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham

The actual current money was French; and any variation in its value compared to the livre tournois would have, of course, to be regulated in Jersey.

From The Coinages of the Channel Islands by B. Lowsley

The crown was acquired by King Louis IX of France in Constantinople in 1239 for 135,000 livres - nearly half France's annual expenditure at the time.

From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2024

Few places were struck more severely than Beaune, the birthplace of Gamay, where records show a drop in the annual local wine monopoly bid from 65 livres in 1394 to just 27 livres in 1400.

From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2024

William Templeton Franklin arranged for her release and Mrs. Jay made a note that he had fronted 60 livres, likely the charge for Abigail’s meals, to secure her return.

From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2021

By 1715, the King had a hundred and sixty-five million livres in revenue from taxes and customs.

From The New Yorker ● Jul. 29, 2019

We offered him one thousand livres per cask for his whole cargo of wine.

From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham

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