lyre

lyre — noun

1. an old musical instrument with a U-shaped frame and strings stretched across it.

1.nounB1
Definition

an old musical instrument with a U-shaped frame and strings stretched across it. People in ancient Greece played it with their fingers or with a small stick, often to go with singing or telling stories.

Example

Emre learned to play the lyre for his school project on ancient Greece.

collocation: play the lyre

In the museum, Sora saw a gold lyre that was over two thousand years old.

collocation: gold lyre / ancient lyre

Common collocations
  • play the lyre
  • gold lyre
  • ancient lyre
  • lyre player
  • strings of a lyre
  • lyre music
Synonyms
  • harp

    a larger string instrument with a triangular frame; the harp is played upright and has a different sound, while the lyre is smaller, U-shaped, and was often used while walking or sitting

  • kithara

    a larger, heavier type of ancient Greek string instrument related to the lyre but with a wooden soundbox and used by professional musicians

Grammar Patterns

the + lyre

a + lyre

Usage Note

Often appears in discussions of ancient Greek mythology, music, and daily life. Modern lyres are sometimes made for historical performances or classroom use.

Common Mistakes

She tuned her lyre like a modern guitar.
She tuned the lyre by turning the wooden pegs at the top of the frame.
The lyre's tuning system uses pegs rather than modern machine heads.

Word family

  • lyric
    adjectiveB2
  • lyric
    nounB2
  • lyrical
    adjectiveB2
  • lyrist
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A lyre is an ancient Greek string instrument with a U-shaped frame, typically held in the player's hands or resting on the lap. A harp is a larger instrument with a triangular frame that stands on the floor; harps are still widely played today in classical, folk, and Celtic music. A kithara is a heavier, wooden-bodied relative of the lyre used by professional musicians in ancient Greece for public performances — it had a louder, richer sound than the simpler lyre. While both the lyre and the kithara were plucked with the fingers or a plectrum, the kithara required more skill and was associated with formal competitions. For everyday use, a student might practice on a lyre, whereas a concert performer would choose a kithara or, in modern times, a harp.

lyre ↗harp ↗kithara

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • play the lyre
  • the strings of a lyre

Etymology

Ancient GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

The word comes from the Latin 'lyra', which was borrowed from the ancient Greek 'λύρα' (lyra), the name of the instrument. In Greek mythology, the lyre was invented by the god Hermes and later given to Apollo. The English word has kept almost the same form through French influence since the 14th century.