[L. lyra, a. Gr. λύρα.]
† 1. A lyre. (Occas. in It. form lira.) See also 5.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, II. (1598), 232. Til she had (taking a Lyra Basilius helde for her) song these Phaleuciakes.
1599. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Rev., IV. iii. Vpon which I composde this ode, and set it to my most affected instrument, the lyra.
1606. Bryskett, Civ. Life, 147. Which verses … were vsed to be sung at the tables of great men and Princes, to the sound of the Lyra.
1611. Cotgr., Lyre, a Lyra, or Harpe.
c. 1714. Pope, etc., Mem. M. Scriblerus, I. vi. I have here a small Lyra of my own, fram’d, strung, and tun’d after the ancient manner.
1724. Explic. For. Words Mus., 42. Lira, or Lyra, or Lyre.
2. Astr. (With capital L.) An ancient northern constellation: HARP sb.1 3.
1658. in Phillips.
1810. J. Brinkley, in Phil. Trans., C. 204. My observations on a Lyræ … now amount to 47.
1901. J. F. Hewitt, Myth-making Age, I. i. 8. When Vega in the Constellation of the Vulture or Lyra became Pole Star.
† 3. Zool. (With capital L.) a. A former genus of fishes including the Piper (Trigla lyra). b. A former genus, including the Harp-shell (Harpa).
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Lyra,… Also the Rochet, a Sea-fish, call’d in Cornwall the red Gournard.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., s.v., There are three species of the lyra, or harp shell. 1. The common lyra.
1854. Badham, Halieut., 48. The Lyra or gurnard [was offered] to Apollo.
4. Anat. ‘The triangular portion of the under surface of the corpus callosum lying between the diverging posterior crura of the fornix, and marked with transverse, longitudinal, and oblique lines’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.).
1756. Douglas, trans. Winslow’s Struct. Hum. Body (ed. 4), II. 245. The interior Surface of the triangular Cieling, which lies between these arches, is full of transverse, prominent, medullary Lines; for which reason the Ancients called it Psalloides and Lyra, comparing it to a stringed Instrument, something like what is now called a Dulcimer.
1840. G. Ellis, Anat., 39. An appearance, called the lyra, or corpus psalloides.
1881. Mivart, Cat, 265.
† 5. attrib. (sense 1), as lyra lesson; lyra (also 7 lero) viol, a bass-viol, tuned and played according to the lute notation or ‘tablature’; lyra-way (also 7 lyero-, leero-way), -wise (Cent. Dict.), according to the method of notation used for instruments of the lute-kind (see TABLATURE).
1661. Pepys, Diary, 10 April. A base viall, on which he that played played well some *lyra lessons. Ibid. (1666), 16 Oct. Hearing my brother play a little upon the *lyra viall.
1669. Playford, Musicks Recreat., Pref. 1. The Lero or Lyra-Viol. Ibid. (1674), Skill Mus., II. 91. The Viol (usually called) de Gambo or Consort Viol, because the Musick thereon is play’d from the Rules of the Gam-vt, and not as the Lyra-Viol, which is by Letters or Tableture.
a. 1734. North, Life Ld. Keeper North (1742), 14. His Practice of Musick upon his Base, or Lyra Viol (which he used to touch, Lute-fashion, upon his Knees).
1607. Lingua, I. ix. C ij. Auditus, shall we here thee play, the *Lyeroway, or the Lute-way?
1611. [see LUTE sb.1 2].
1658. Phillips, Lyrick verses,… songs composed to the Lyre, or Harp, whence we say vulgarly, playing Leero-way on the Viol, which is corruptly used for Lyra-way, i.e. Harp-way.
1674. Playford, Skill Mus., II. 101. A Bass-Viol to play Lyra-way, that is by Tableture.
