Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

lire

/lˈɪɹə/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.89 in modern English

Syllables: lire
IPA: /lˈɪɹə/

4

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

2

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Flesh, brawn, or muscle; the fleshy part of a person or animal in contradistinction to the bone and skin.

British usage

noun

The fleshy part of a roast capon, etc. as distinguished from a limb or joint.

British usage

noun

The cheek.

British usage

noun

Face; appearance of the face or skin; complexion; hue.

British usage

noun

The Manx shearwater (bird).

British usage

noun

Etymology

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”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: lire, līra, *ligwizô, *lekʷs-, hlýr, líri

Usage

British usage

Inflected Forms

lires (plural)

Homonyms

lyre (some pronunciations)

Rhymes With

mira sera lira hera madeira indira shira altamira taira almira mirra palmira

Questions

How do you pronounce lire?: The recorded pronunciation is /lˈɪɹə/.
What does lire mean?: Flesh, brawn, or muscle; the fleshy part of a person or animal in contradistinction to the bone and skin.
Where does lire come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce lire

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “lire”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/lˈɪɹə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “lire”.
Repeat and practice — Say “lire” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.