# libra
## English
### Etymology

From Latin lībra (“pound”), partially via Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese libra. Doublet of arratel, libbra, Libra, lira, litra, litre, livre, and rottol.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈliːbrə/, /ˈlaibrə/
* Audio (Canada):(file)

### Noun

libra (plural libras or librae) (Roman contexts)
* (historical) A Roman unit of mass, usually equivalent to 327 g.
* (historical) A traditional Spanish unit of mass, usually around 460 g.
* (historical) A traditional Portuguese unit of mass, usually equivalent to 345 g and particularly used for trade in medicines.
* (historical) Synonym of arratel, a separate Portuguese unit of mass, usually around 460 g.
* (historical) Alternative spelling of libbra, a traditional Italian unit of mass.
* (historical) Synonym of pound, a notional pound of silver as a money of account, especially in medieval contexts.

#### Synonyms

* (Roman unit of mass): Roman pound, pound (Roman contexts)
* (Spanish unit of mass): Spanish pound, pound (Spanish contexts)
* (Portuguese unit of mass): Portuguese pound, pound (Portuguese contexts, but more often used for the arratel)

#### Coordinate terms

* (Roman unit of mass): uncia ($^1$⁄$_{12}$ libra)
* (Spanish unit of mass): onza ($^1$⁄$_{16}$ libra), cuarteron ($^1$⁄$_4$ libra), marco ($^1$⁄$_1$ libra), arroba (25 libras), quintal (100 libras), tonelada (2,000 libras)
* (Portuguese unit of mass): oitava (usually $^1$⁄$_{72}$ libra), onça (usually $^1$⁄$_{12}$ libra), quarta (usually $^1$⁄$_3$ libra), marco (usually $^2$⁄$_3$ libra), arratel (usually 1+$^1$⁄$_3$ libras)

### References

* Dictionary of Units of Measurement

### Anagrams

* Arbil, Baril, Blair, Bliar, Rabil, brail

## Albanian
### Noun

libra
* indefinite nominative/accusative plural of libër

## Czech
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

libra f
* pound (unit of measure)
* pound (currency)

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “libra”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
* “libra”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

## Galician
### Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese livra, attested in the 13th-century Cantigas de Santa Maria, from Latin libra (“Roman pound”). Doublet of lira. In reference to the English unit, a calque of English pound. Cognate with Portuguese and Spanish libra and Catalan lliura.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈliβɾɐ]

#### Noun

libra f (plural libras)
* English or American pound, a unit of mass equivalent to 453.6 g
* (historical) Galician pound, a unit of mass equivalent to about 575 g
* (historical) libra, Spanish pound, a unit of mass equivalent to about 460 g
* British pound, a unit of British currency originally notionally equal to a pound of sterling silver
    Synonym: libra esterlina
* (chiefly historical) pound, other similar currencies originally notionally equal to a pound of gold or silver

##### Coordinate terms

* (Galician pound): onza ($^1$⁄$_{20}$ libra)
* (Spanish pound): onza ($^1$⁄$_{16}$ libra)

#### Noun

libra m or f by sense (plural libras)
* Libra (someone with the Libra star sign)

##### Related terms

* Libra

#### References

* Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “libra”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “libra”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “libra”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “libra”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “libra”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

libra
* inflection of librar:
** third-person singular present indicative
** second-person singular imperative

## Italian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈli.bra/
* Rhymes: -ibra
* Hyphenation: lì‧bra

### Noun

libra f (plural libre)
* pound

## Latin
### Etymology 1

Of uncertain origin. The word's original form was something like Proto-Italic *līðrā, *leiðrā (“pound”), surviving also in Ancient Greek λίτρα (lítra), whence English liter.
Weiss derives the term from Proto-Indo-European *leyH- (“to pour”) suffixed with the instrumental/resultative suffix *-dʰrom, under the assumption that the term originally meant "pouring (of metal)" before evolving to mean a unit of weight. In this case, then cognate with Proto-Slavic *lìti (“to pour”), Proto-Celtic *liyeti (“to flow”), Ancient Greek λείβω (leíbō, “to pour”), Lithuanian líeti (“to let flow”).

#### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈliː.bra/, [ˈlʲiːbrä]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈli.bra/, [ˈliːbrä]

#### Noun

lībra f (genitive lībrae); first declension
* (historical) libra, Roman pound, a Roman unit of mass, equivalent to about 327 g
* scales, a tool used to balance two weights to measure amounts
* level, a tool used to check surfaces for horizontal and vertical alignment
* (Medieval Latin, New Latin) pound, any of various units of mass derived from or roughly equivalent to the Roman libra
* (Medieval Latin, New Latin) pound, any of various currencies derived from the use of pound as a weight in silver

##### Declension

First-declension noun.

##### Synonyms

* (Roman unit of mass): lb.
* (units of currency): £

##### Coordinate terms

* (Roman unit of mass): uncia ($^1$⁄$_{12}$ libra)
* (English unit of mass): uncia ($^1$⁄$_{16}$ libra)

##### Related terms

* lībrō
* lībrātiō

##### Descendants

* Italo-Romance:
** Italian: libra, libbra, lira
*** → Catalan: lira
*** → Czech: lira
*** → Danish: lire
**** → Faroese: liri
*** → English: lira
*** → Finnish: liira
*** → German: Lira
*** → Galician: lira
*** → Maori: rira
*** → Malay: lira
*** → Maltese: lira
*** → Norwegian: lira
*** → Portuguese: lira
*** → Serbo-Croatian: lira
*** → Spanish: lira
*** → Turkish: lira
* Gallo-Italic:
** Piedmontese: livra
* Gallo-Romance:
** Catalan: lliura
** Old French: livre m
*** Middle French: livre
**** French: livre
***** Louisiana Creole: liv
***** → English: livre
***** → Romanian: livră
* Ibero-Romance:
** Old Galician-Portuguese:
*** Galician: libra
*** Portuguese: libra
** Spanish: libra
*** → Tagalog: libra

### Etymology 2
#### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈliː.braː/, [ˈlʲiːbräː]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈli.bra/, [ˈliːbrä]

#### Verb

lībrā
* second-person singular present active imperative of lībrō

### References

* ↑ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “lībra”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 339
* ↑ Michael Weiss, "The Etymology of Latin lībra", conference paper presented at the SCS Greek and Latin Linguistics Panel on January 5, 2021

### Further reading

* “libra”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “libra”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
* "libra", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
* libra in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
* Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co. (ambiguous) to make extracts from Cicero's writings: aliquid, multa ex Ciceronis libris excerpere (not excerpere librum)
* “libra”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
* libra in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
* “libra”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

## Portuguese
### Etymology

From Latin libra (“Roman pound”). Doublet of arrátel. In reference to the English unit, a calque of English pound. Cognate with Galician and Spanish libra and Catalan lliura.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈli.bɾɐ/
* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈli.bɾɐ/
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ˈli.bɾa/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈli.bɾɐ/ [ˈli.βɾɐ]

### Noun

libra f (plural libras)
* English or American pound, a unit of mass equal to 454 g
* pound, British and other currencies derived from the use of a pound as a weight in silver
* (historical) libra, Portuguese pound, a traditional unit of mass usually equivalent to 345 g and chiefly used for trade in medicines
* (historical) Synonym of arrátel, Portuguese pound, a traditional unit of mass usually equivalent to 460 g

#### Coordinate terms

* (English unit of mass): onça ($^1$⁄$_{16}$ libra), tonelada (2,000 or 2,240 libras)
* (Portuguese unit of mass): oitava (usually $^1$⁄$_{72}$ libra), onça (usually $^1$⁄$_{12}$ libra), quarta (usually $^1$⁄$_3$ libra), marco (usually $^2$⁄$_3$ libra), arrátel (1+$^1$⁄$_3$ libras)

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈlibɾa/ [ˈli.β̞ɾa]
* Rhymes: -ibɾa
* Syllabification: li‧bra

### Etymology 1

From Latin libra (“Roman pound, scale”). Doublet of lira. In reference to the English unit, a calque of English pound. Cognate with Galician and Portuguese libra and Catalan lliura.

#### Noun

libra f (plural libras)
* English or American pound avoirdupois (a unit of mass equivalent to 453.6 g)
* (historical) libra, Spanish pound (a traditional unit of mass equivalent to about 460 g)
* British pound (the currency of the United Kingdom and its dependencies, originally notionally equivalent to a pound of stirling silver)
    Synonym: libra esterlina
* (chiefly historical) pound (various other currencies originally notionally equivalent to a pound of gold or silver)

##### Coordinate terms

* (English unit of mass): grano ($^1$⁄$_{7000}$ libra), onza ($^1$⁄$_{16}$ libra), tonelada (2,000 or 2,240 libras)
* (Spanish unit of mass): grano ($^1$⁄$_{9216}$ libra), onza ($^1$⁄$_{16}$ libra), cuarterón ($^1$⁄$_4$ libra), marco ($^1$⁄$_2$ libra), arroba (25 libras), quintal (100 libras), tonelada (2,000 libras)

#### Noun

libra m or f by sense (plural libras)
* Libra (someone with the Libra star sign)

##### Related terms

* Libra

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

libra
* inflection of librar:
** third-person singular present indicative
** second-person singular imperative

### Further reading

* “libra”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Tagalog
### Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish libra, from Latin libra.

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Tagalog) IPA: /ˈlibɾa/ [ˈlib.ɾɐ]
* Rhymes: -ibɾa
* Syllabification: lib‧ra

### Noun

libra (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜊ᜔ᜇ)
* pound (unit of mass or force/weight)

#### Related terms

* Libra

### Anagrams

* Abril, ribal, baril