lierre

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French liere, formed by rebracketing of the elided article l' and iere m, itself from Latin hedera f, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to seize, grasp, take”). The change in gender can be explained as assimilating the more common masculine form for trees and shrubs in French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ljɛʁ/

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• Rhymes: -jɛʁ

Noun

lierre m (plural lierres)

1. ivy

Further reading

• “lierre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “hĕdĕra”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 4: G H I, page 396