lyre

Forms

lyre f (plural lyres)^[1] Old French lire (1155); the etymological spelling lyre is dated 1548.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin lyra (“lyre; song, lyric poem”),^[2][3][5] which is from Ancient Greek λύρα (lúra, “lyre”).^[2][3][6] Rey thinks the Greek word was probably borrowed from another language;^[3] Etymonline also calls it a foreign loanword of uncertain origin.^[7] The older French form was respelled after the Latin and Greek in the 16th century.^[3]

Cognate with Old Occitan lira, Spanish lira and Italian lira.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace's Brut (1155) names the lire together with the psaltery, as a stringed instrument of antiquity.^[2][3] A 12th-century translation of the Book of Kings lists harpes, e lires, e tympans among the instruments played by David.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Besides the ancient instrument, lyre named an instrument of the 16th and 17th centuries between the viol and the violin (recorded 1680).^[2][3] Like luth, it became for the poets of the Pléiade a figure for lyric poetry and poetic inspiration (Ronsard, 1549),^[3][2] hence literary phrases such as accorder sa lyre and Hugo's ajouter une corde à sa lyre (1831).^[8] Chateaubriand (1803) used it of a being or thing that receives impressions and gives them back.^[2][3]

In the 19th century the instrument's curved shape gave analogical uses: the lyrebird, oiseau-lyre (1868), and in technical language a part or ornament shaped like a lyre (1871).^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1155 – Wace uses lire in the Brut.^[2]
• 1548 – The spelling lyre appears in Forcadel's Chant des seraines.^[2]
• 1549 – Ronsard uses it for the art of verse.^[2][3]
• 1680 – Richelet records it for a stringed instrument between the viol and the violin.^[2]
• 1803 – Chateaubriand uses it figuratively; the word is also recorded in ornithology.^[2]
• 1868 – Oiseau-lyre “lyrebird” appears in Verne.^[2][3]
• 1871 – It names an ornament shaped like a lyre.^[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lyre, the ancient Greek and Roman stringed instrument with two curved arms joined by a crossbar, plucked with the fingers or a plectrum.^[2][9]
2. (history) A bowed instrument of the 16th and 17th centuries between the viol and the violin.^[2][3]
3. (literary) The symbol of poetry, poetic inspiration or talent: accorder sa lyre.^[9][8]
4. (figurative, literary) A being or thing that receives impressions and expresses them.^[2][3]
5. An object or ornament shaped like a lyre; in a grand piano, the frame that carries the pedals.^[2][9]

Word family

• lyré
• lyriste
• oiseau-lyre

Related words

• lyrique
• lyrisme
• Latin lyra
• Ancient Greek λύρα (lúra)
• English lyre

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert