Leier

See also: leier and Léier

English

Etymology

Borrowed from German Leier.

Proper noun

Leier (plural Leiers)

1. A surname from German.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Leier is the 33196^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 689 individuals. Leier is most common among White (94.92%) individuals.

Anagrams

• Eiler

German

Alternative forms

• Lyra (ancient Greek instrument and astronomy)

Etymology

From Middle High German līre, from Old High German līra, from Latin lyra, from Ancient Greek λύρα (lúra).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪ̯əʁ/, [ˈlaɪ̯.ɐ]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Homophone: Leiher

Noun

Leier f (genitive Leier, plural Leiern)

1. (music) lyre (ancient Greek lute)
2. (music, also Drehleier) hurdy-gurdy (medieval fiddle with a wheel)
3. (figurative, informal, also alte Leier) a recurring and hence annoying lecture, monologue, theme

   Synonym: Litanei

   Immer dieselbe Leier! ― Always that same old story!

4. (astronomy) Lyra (constellation)

Declension

Declension of Leier [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Leier	die	Leiern
genitive	einer	der	Leier	der	Leiern
dative	einer	der	Leier	den	Leiern
accusative	eine	die	Leier	die	Leiern

Derived terms

• alte Leier
• Drehleier
• Leierantilope
• Leierfisch
• Leierhirsch
• Leierkasten
• leiern, ausleiern
• Leierschwanz

Related terms

• Lyrik, lyrisch

Further reading

• “Leier” in Duden online
• “Leier”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[1] (in German)

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Middle High German līre, from Old High German līra, from Latin lyra, from Ancient Greek λύρα (lúra). The restoration of the sense “lyre” is of learned, humanist origin and therefore influenced by cognate German Leier.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɑɪ̯ɐ]

Noun

Leier f (plural Leieren)

1. lyre
2. hurdy-gurdy
3. (figurative) recurring and hence annoying lecture, monologue, theme