lyra

1. datedanatomyThe middle portion of the ventral surface of the fornix of the brain.

   The vessels of the brain generally are often distended and gorged with blood, the lyra especially being fully injected.

   1840, Alexander Tweedie, William Wood Gerhard, A system of practical medicine: Volume 1, page 295

plural lyras

1. A vertically suspended hoop used in acrobatic performances.

plural lyras · alternative lira

1. A bowed string musical instrument used in the Byzantine Empire.

   The Cretan lyra is considered to be the most popular surviving form of the medieval Byzantine lyra, an ancestor of most European bowed instruments.

   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

   2 more examples

   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.

   2013, Howard Goodall, “The Age of Penitence, 1450–1650”, in The Story of Music, Chatto & Windus, page 55

   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.

   2021, Robert U. Ayres, The History and Future of Technology: Can Technology Save Humanity from Extinction?, Springer, →ISBN, page 72

2. A bowed instrument used in folk music in Crete, Greece.

   In Crete, the lyra continues to be practiced.

   2019, Janet Sturman, editor, The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture, SAGE Publications

   3 more examples

   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.

   1980, Margaret Anne Downie, “The Modern Greek Lyra”, in Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society, page 153

   Immediately after the ceremony, the wedding procession, accompanied by the lyra, lute (laouto) and songs, returns to the groom’s house[…]

   1988, Krētē: Monthly Publication of the Pancretan Association of America, page 10

   Faithfully following the authentic local tradition, most lyras are entirely handmade.

   2020, “Cretan Lyra”, in Andrew R. Martin, Matthew Mihalka, editors, Music Around the World: A Global Encyclopedia, ABC-Clio, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 207

1. astronomyA summer constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble a lyre. It includes the bright star Vega and the Ring Nebula.
2. A female given name from Ancient Greek.

   A little parapet ran all the way around the square roof, and Pantalaimon often draped his pine-marten form over the mock-battlements on the corner facing south, and dozed while Lyra sat below with her back against the sun-drenched stone, studying the books she'd brought up with her.

   2003, Philip Pullman, Lyra's Oxford