noun
lyra
LEYE-ruh
noun
1
A hoop suspended from above, used by aerial acrobats to perform holds, spins, and drops.
"The circus performer wrapped one leg through the lyra and spun slowly toward the floor."
"Aerial yoga studios sometimes use a lyra instead of silks for beginners."
2
A pear-shaped bowed string instrument played upright on the knee, found in Byzantine, Cretan, and other Eastern Mediterranean folk music.
"The musician balanced the lyra on his knee and drew the bow across its three strings."
"A Cretan wedding band usually features a lyra alongside a lute."
3
(astronomy, capitalized) A small northern constellation said to look like a lyre, containing the bright star Vega.
"On a clear summer night you can pick out Lyra almost overhead."
"Vega, the brightest star in Lyra, is part of the Summer Triangle."
How to Use Lyra
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishMost commonly either the aerial hoop apparatus circus performers use, or the star constellation shaped roughly like an ancient lyre.
Common pairings
aerial lyra
the constellation Lyra
a lyra player
Word Forms
lyras plural, lyras plural
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The circus performer wrapped one leg through the _____ and spun slowly toward the floor.
Etymology
From Latin lyra, "a lyre" — the same word behind the musical instrument lyre and, in anatomy, a brain structure whose crisscrossing fibres reminded early anatomists of lyre strings.