lire

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪərə

Etymology 1

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”).

Noun

lire (plural lires)

1. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Flesh, brawn, or muscle; the fleshy part of a person or animal in contradistinction to the bone and skin.
2. (UK dialectal, Scotland) The fleshy part of a roast capon, etc. as distinguished from a limb or joint.

Etymology 2

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.

Noun

lire (plural lires)

1. (UK dialectal, Scotland) The cheek.
2. (UK dialectal, Scotland) Face; appearance of the face or skin; complexion; hue.

Etymology 3

From Old Norse líri. Cognate with Norwegian lira.

Noun

lire (plural lires)

1. (UK dialectal, Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, ornithology) The Manx shearwater (bird).

Etymology 4

From Italian lire.

Noun

lire

1. plural form of lira

Anagrams

• lier
• riel
• rile

---

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liʁ/

• Audio (France, Paris)

  (file)

• Homophones: lires, lyre, lyrent, lyres
• Rhymes: -iʁ

Etymology 1

From Latin legere, present active infinitive of legō.

Verb

lire

1. (transitive, intransitive) to read
2. (reflexive, se lire) to be read

Conjugation

   Conjugation of lire (see also Appendix:French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		lire			avoir lu
gerund		en lisant			en ayant lu
present participle		lisant
past participle		lu
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il	nous	vous	ils
simple tenses	present	lis	lis	lit	lisons	lisez	lisent
	imperfect	lisais	lisais	lisait	lisions	lisiez	lisaient
	past historic1	lus	lus	lut	lûmes	lûtes	lurent
	future	lirai	liras	lira	lirons	lirez	liront
	conditional	lirais	lirais	lirait	lirions	liriez	liraient
compound tenses	present perfect	Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	past anterior1	Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il	que nous	que vous	qu’ils
simple tenses	present	lise	lises	lise	lisions	lisiez	lisent
	imperfect1	lusse	lusses	lût	lussions	lussiez	lussent
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect1	Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
		—	lis	—	lisons	lisez	—
1literary tenses

Related terms

• élire
• élu
• illisible
• illisiblement
• illisibilité
• lecteur, lectrice

• lisible
• lisiblement
• lisibilité
• relecture
• relire

Etymology 2

Italian lira, compare French livre.

Noun

lire f (plural lires)

1. lira (unit of currency)

Anagrams

• lier

---

Italian

Noun

lire f

1. plural form of lira