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lire

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lire¹

Where it comes from

From Middle English lire, lyre, from Old English līra (“any fleshy part of the body, muscle, calf of the leg”), from Proto-Germanic *ligwizô, *lihwizô (“thigh, groin”), from Proto-Indo-European *lekʷs-, *lewks- (“groin”). Cognate with Dutch lies (“groin”), Swedish lår (“thigh”).

noun lires

  1. Northern England, Scotland, UK, dialectal Flesh, brawn, or muscle; the fleshy part of a person or animal in contradistinction to the bone and skin.
  2. Scotland, UK, dialectal The fleshy part of a roast capon, etc. as distinguished from a limb or joint.

lire²

Where it comes from

From Middle English lire, lyre, from Old Norse hlýr (“cheeks”, plural). Compare Middle English lere, from Old English hlēor (“cheek, countenance, complexion”). More at leer.

noun lires

  1. Scotland, UK, dialectal The cheek.
  2. Scotland, UK, dialectal Face; appearance of the face or skin; complexion; hue.

lire³

Where it comes from

From Old Norse líri. Cognate with Norwegian lira.

noun lires

  1. Orkney, Scotland, Shetland, UK, dialectal The Manx shearwater (bird).

lire⁴

Sounds like lyre (some pronunciations) · Rhymes with -ɪəɹə

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Italian lire.

noun

  1. plural plural of lira

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Cite this
MLA

"lire." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lire. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

lire. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lire

Chicago

"lire." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lire.

BibTeX
@misc{lire_2026,
  title = {lire},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lire},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}