means A small U-shaped stringed instrument from the ancient world, plucked or strummed and held against the body, central to Greek music and poetry.

from From Greek 'lyra,' borrowed into Latin as 'lyra' and arriving in English through Old French 'lire.' The Greek word's deeper roots are obscure — possibly a loan from some pre-Greek Mediterranean tongue, since the instrument itself was old before the Greeks ever named it. The myth tells that Hermes invented the first lyre from a tortoise shell strung with gut, then handed it to Apollo — which is why 'lyric' poetry, sung to its strings, still carries the instrument's name today.