Etymograph

English

lira

Lira comes from Latin lībra ‘libra, Roman pound, a Roman unit of mass,…’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElībra1‘libra, Roman pound, a Roman unit of mass, equivalent to about 327 g’
  2. Italianc. 1300–presentlira1
  3. Englishtodaylira1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English lira

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElībraWiktionary, English lira‘libra, Roman pound, a Roman unit of mass, equivalent to about 327 g’
  2. Italianc. 1300–presentliraWiktionary, English lira
  3. EnglishtodayliraWiktionary, English lira

The story

From Italian lira, from Latin lībra (partly via Turkish lira, Arabic لِيرَة (līra), Maltese lira, Greek λίρα (líra), and Hebrew לִירָה (‘lirá’), all of which are originally from the Italian).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *līðrā ‘ingot’

litre, rattle, 18 more

through Latin lībra ‘libra, Roman pound, a Roman unit of mass,…’

level, deliberate, equilibrium, deliberation, libra, deliberative, 8 more

Another origin of lira

  1. Ukrainianmodernліраlira
  2. Englishtodaylira

Another origin of lira

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leys-‘track, furrow, trace, trail’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lóyseh₂‘following, track’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*loizā‘furrow’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīra‘furrow’
  5. Englishtodaylira

Today it means

noun The basic unit of currency in Turkey.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lira”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin lībra / lira

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