Etymology

lire

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Today it means: Flesh, brawn, or muscle; the fleshy part of a person or animal in contradistinction to the bone and skin. Full definition →

Middle English lire ← Old English līra ← Proto-Germanic *ligwizô
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lire · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*lekʷs-
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*ligwizô
  3. Old English · inherited fromlīra“any fleshy part of the body, muscle, calf of the leg”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromlire
  5. English todaylire

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”).

lire · noun2

  1. Old Norse · derived fromhlýr“cheeks”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromlire
  3. English todaylire

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.

lire · noun3

  1. Old Norse · derived fromlíri
  2. English todaylire

From Old Norse líri. Cognate with Norwegian lira.

lire · noun4

  1. Italian · borrowed fromlire
  2. Italian · borrowed fromlire
  3. English todaylire

Borrowed from Italian lire.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishlire all →

lyre

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.