# lyra
## English
### Etymology 1

So called from the arrangement of the lines with which it is marked in the human brain.

#### Noun

lyra
* (anatomy, dated) The middle portion of the ventral surface of the fornix of the brain.
** 1840, Alexander Tweedie, William Wood Gerhard, A system of practical medicine: Volume 1, page 295:The vessels of the brain generally are often distended and gorged with blood, the lyra especially being fully injected.

### Etymology 2
#### Noun

lyra (plural lyras)
* A vertically suspended hoop used in acrobatic performances.

### Etymology 3

From Ancient Greek λῠ́ρᾱ (lŭ́rā) or Modern Greek λύρα (lýra). Doublet of lira, Lyra, and lyre.

#### Alternative forms

* lira (Byzantine lyra)

#### Noun

lyra (plural lyras)
* A bowed string musical instrument used in the Byzantine Empire.
** 2013, Howard Goodall, “The Age of Penitence, 1450–1650”, in The Story of Music, Chatto & Windus, page 55:A Persian scholar of the early tenth century, lbn Khurradadhbih, reported the lyra to be in widespread use throughout the empire, along with organs and bagpipes.
** 2019, Efthimios Bakarezos, Yannis Orphanos, Evaggelos Kaselouris, Vasilios Dimitriou, Michael Tatarakis, Nektarios A. Papadogiannis, “Laser-Based Interferometric Techniques for the Study of Musical Instruments”, in Rolf Bader, editor, Computational Phonogram Archiving (Current Research in Systematic Musicology), Springer, →ISBN, →ISSN, →LCCN, page 257:The Cretan lyra is considered to be the most popular surviving form of the medieval Byzantine lyra, an ancestor of most European bowed instruments.
** 2021, Robert U. Ayres, The History and Future of Technology: Can Technology Save Humanity from Extinction?, Springer, →ISBN, page 72:The direct ancestor of all European bowed instruments is the Arabic rebab which developed into the Byzantine lyra by the ninth century and later the European rebec.
* A bowed instrument used in folk music in Crete, Greece.
** 1980, Margaret Anne Downie, “The Modern Greek Lyra”, in Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society, page 153:According to the Greek musicologist Fivos Anoyanakis, the piriform lyras of Crete have, at various times throughout history, been produced in different sizes and styles.
** 1988, Krētē: Monthly Publication of the Pancretan Association of America, page 10:Immediately after the ceremony, the wedding procession, accompanied by the lyra, lute (laouto) and songs, returns to the groom’s house […]
** 2019, Janet Sturman, editor, The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture, SAGE Publications:In Crete, the lyra continues to be practiced.
** 2020, “Cretan Lyra”, in Andrew R. Martin, Matthew Mihalka, editors, Music Around the World: A Global Encyclopedia, ABC-Clio, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 207:Faithfully following the authentic local tradition, most lyras are entirely handmade.

##### Derived terms

* lyra viol

#### Further reading

* Byzantine lyra on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Cretan lyra on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* yarl, ryal, Rayl, lyar, Lary, aryl, Ryal, RYLA, Yarl

## Czech
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lyra (“a lyre, a lyric”), from Ancient Greek λύρᾱ (lúrā, “a lyre”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈlɪra]
* Rhymes: -ɪra
* Hyphenation: ly‧ra
* Homophone: lira

### Noun

lyra f
* lyre (ancient musical instrument) [19th c.]

#### Related terms

* lyrický
* lyrik
* lyrika

### References

* ↑ Rejzek, Jiří (2015) “lyra”, in Český etymologický slovník [Czech Etymological Dictionary] (in Czech), 3rd (revised and expanded) edition, Praha: LEDA, →ISBN, page 391

### Anagrams

* ryla

## Latin
### Etymology

From Ancient Greek λύρᾱ (lúrā, “lyre”).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈly.ra/, [ˈlʲʏrä]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈli.ra/, [ˈliːrä]

### Noun

lyra f (genitive lyrae); first declension
* (music) lyre, lute
** 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 5.105–106:‘septēna putāris, Plēiadum numerum, fīla dedisse lyrae’‘‘you are thought to have given seven – the number of the Pleiads – strings to the lyre’’ (The muse Calliope credits Hermes/Mercury with inventing the lyre, and giving it seven strings to honor his mother Maia, eldest of the Pleiades (Greek mythology).)
* the northern constellation Lyra

#### Declension

First-declension noun.

#### Derived terms

* lyricen
* lyricus
* lyristēs

#### Descendants

* → English: Lyra
* → English: lyra
* → French: lyre
* → Spanish: lira

### References

* “lyra”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “lyra”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “lyra”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “lyra”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Noun

lyra f (definite singular lyra, indefinite plural lyrer or lyror, definite plural lyrene or lyrone)
* (pre-2012) alternative form of lyre
* definite singular of lyre

## Swedish
### Noun

lyra c
* (music) a lyre (stringed musical instrument)
* a European pollock (Pollachius pollachius)
    Synonyms: lyrtorsk, (regional) bleksej, bleka
* (brännboll) a catch without the ball having touched the ground

#### Declension

| | | nominative | genitive |
| singular | indefinite | lyra | lyras |
| singular | definite | lyran | lyrans |
| plural | indefinite | lyror | lyrors |
| plural | definite | lyrorna | lyrornas |

#### Derived terms
##### a catch in brännboll

* enhandslyra

### References

* lyra in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* lyra in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* lyra in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

### Anagrams

* ylar