lyre

[ lahyuhr ]

/ laɪər /

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noun

a musical instrument of ancient Greece consisting of a soundbox made typically from a turtle shell, with two curved arms connected by a yoke from which strings are stretched to the body, used especially to accompany singing and recitation.

(initial capital letter)Astronomy. the constellation Lyra.

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Origin of lyre

1175–1225; Middle English lire<Latin lyra<Greek lýra

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH lyre

liar, lyre

Words nearby lyre

lyotropic, lypressin, Lyra, lyrate, lyra viol, lyre, lyre back, lyrebird, lyre-form sofa, lyre snake, lyric

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use lyre in a sentence

These pieces show Christov-Bakargiev wearing her Apollo hat and strumming the lyre too loudly.
The Art Exhibition Documenta Contains Almost Too Much Good Art to Experience|Blake Gopnik|June 9, 2012|DAILY BEAST
We might conclude that the only thing of beauty that remains of him is the shape of his lyre in the stars.
Ann Wroe’s ‘Orpheus’: Why the Mythological Muse Haunts Us|Ann Wroe|May 31, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Only head and lyre remained intact, floating down the River Hebrus from Thrace to the sea.
Ann Wroe’s ‘Orpheus’: Why the Mythological Muse Haunts Us|Ann Wroe|May 31, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The fountain is a type of the living waters, and the lyre, of the influence of the Divine Orpheus.
The Catacombs of Rome|William Henry Withrow

Sometimes an Orpheus, to whose lyre the sheep seem to listen with pleased attention, takes the place of the Good Shepherd.
The Catacombs of Rome|William Henry Withrow
The poet's lyre has not many strings, and the strains of sadness, of pensive melancholy, are almost absent.
Frdric Mistral|Charles Alfred Downer
There remain then the lyre and the cithara for use in our city; and for shepherds in the country a syrinx (pan's pipes).'
The Modes of Ancient Greek Music|David Binning Monro
The scale of a lyre was usually the standard octave from Hypat to Nt: and that octave might be in any one key.
The Modes of Ancient Greek Music|David Binning Monro

British Dictionary definitions for lyre

lyre

/ (laɪə) /

noun

an ancient Greek stringed instrument consisting of a resonating tortoise shell to which a crossbar was attached by two projecting arms. It was plucked with a plectrum and used for accompanying songs

any ancient instrument of similar design

a medieval bowed instrument of the violin family

Word Origin for lyre

C13: via Old French from Latin lyra, from Greek lura

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