lire
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English lire, lyre, from Old English līra (“any fleshy part of the body, muscle, calf of the leg”), from Proto-Germanic *ligwizô, *lihwizô (“thigh, groin”), from Proto-Indo-European *lekʷs-, *lewks- (“groin”). Cognate with Dutch lies (“groin”), Swedish lår (“thigh”).
Noun
lire (plural lires)
Etymology 2
From Middle English lire, lyre, from Old Norse hlýr (“cheeks”, plural). Compare Middle English lere, from Old English hlēor (“cheek, countenance, complexion”). More at leer.
Noun
lire (plural lires)
- (Britain dialectal, Scotland) The cheek.
- (Britain dialectal, Scotland) Face; appearance of the face or skin; complexion; hue.
Etymology 3
From Old Norse líri. Cognate with Norwegian lira.
Noun
lire (plural lires)
- (Britain dialectal, Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, ornithology) The Manx shearwater (bird).
Etymology 4
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɪərə
Noun
lire
- plural of lira
Homophones
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Old French lire, from Latin legere, present active infinitive of legō, from Proto-Italic *legō, from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-.
Verb
lire
- (transitive, intransitive) to read
- (reflexive, se lire) to be read
Conjugation
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | lire | avoir lu | |||||
| gerund | en lisant | en ayant lu | |||||
| present participle | lisant /li.zɑ̃/ | ||||||
| past participle | lu /ly/ | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il | nous | vous | ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | lis /li/ |
lis /li/ |
lit /li/ |
lisons /li.zɔ̃/ |
lisez /li.ze/ |
lisent /liz/ |
| imperfect | lisais /li.zɛ/ |
lisais /li.zɛ/ |
lisait /li.zɛ/ |
lisions /li.zjɔ̃/ |
lisiez /li.zje/ |
lisaient /li.zɛ/ | |
| past historic1 | lus /ly/ |
lus /ly/ |
lut /ly/ |
lûmes /lym/ |
lûtes /lyt/ |
lurent /lyʁ/ | |
| future | lirai /li.ʁe/ |
liras /li.ʁa/ |
lira /li.ʁa/ |
lirons /li.ʁɔ̃/ |
lirez /li.ʁe/ |
liront /li.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | lirais /li.ʁɛ/ |
lirais /li.ʁɛ/ |
lirait /li.ʁɛ/ |
lirions /li.ʁjɔ̃/ |
liriez /li.ʁje/ |
liraient /li.ʁɛ/ | |
| compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior1 | Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il | que nous | que vous | qu’ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | lise /liz/ |
lises /liz/ |
lise /liz/ |
lisions /li.zjɔ̃/ |
lisiez /li.zje/ |
lisent /liz/ |
| imperfect1 | lusse /lys/ |
lusses /lys/ |
lût /ly/ |
lussions /ly.sjɔ̃/ |
lussiez /ly.sje/ |
lussent /lys/ | |
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect1 | Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
| — | lis /li/ |
— | lisons /li.zɔ̃/ |
lisez /li.ze/ |
— | ||
| 1literary tenses | |||||||
This verb is impersonal and is conjugated only in the third-person singular.
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | se lire | s'être lu | |||||
| gerund | en se lisant | en s'étant lu | |||||
| present participle | se lisant /sə‿.li.zɑ̃/ | ||||||
| past participle | lu /ly/ | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il | nous | vous | ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | — | — | se lit /sə‿.li/ |
— | — | — |
| imperfect | — | — | se lisait /sə‿.li.zɛ/ |
— | — | — | |
| past historic1 | — | — | se lut /sə‿.ly/ |
— | — | — | |
| future | — | — | se lira /sə‿.li.ʁa/ |
— | — | — | |
| conditional | — | — | se lirait /sə‿.li.ʁɛ/ |
— | — | — | |
| compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of s'être followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of s'être followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior1 | Use the past historic tense of s'être followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of s'être followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of s'être followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il | que nous | que vous | qu’ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | — | — | se lise /sə‿.liz/ |
— | — | — |
| imperfect1 | — | — | se lût /sə‿.ly/ |
— | — | — | |
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive tense of s'être followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect1 | Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of s'être followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1literary tenses | |||||||
Related terms
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Italian lira, compare French livre.
Noun
lire f (plural lires)
- lira (unit of currency)
Anagrams
Further reading
- “lire” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Italian
Noun
lire f
- plural of lira
Old French
Etymology
Verb
lire
- (transitive, intransitive) to read
- (reflexive, se lire) to be read
Conjugation
This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb ends in a palatal stem, so there is an extra i before the e of some endings. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | lire | avoir leü, lit | |||||
| gerund | en lisant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| present participle | lisant | ||||||
| past participle | leü, lit | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
| simple tenses |
present | li | lis | list | lisons | lisiez | lisent |
| imperfect | lisoie, liseie | lisoies, liseies | lisoit, liseit | lisiiens, lisiens | lisiiez, lisiez | lisoient, liseient | |
| preterite | lui, lis | leüs, lesis | lut, list | leümes, lesimes | leüstes, lesistes | lurent, listrent | |
| future | lirai | liras | lira | lirons | liroiz, lireiz, lirez | liront | |
| conditional | liroie, lireie | liroies, lireies | liroit, lireit | liriiens, liriens | liriiez, liriez | liroient, lireient | |
| compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
| simple tenses |
present | lise | lises | lise | lisiens, lisons | lisiez | lisent |
| imperfect | leüsse, lesisse | leüsses, lesisses | leüst, lesist | leüssons, leüssiens, lesissons, lesissiens | leüssoiz, leüssez, leüssiez, lesissoiz, lesissez, lesissiez | leüssent, lesissent | |
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
| — | lis | — | lisons | lisiez | — | ||
Related terms
Descendants
- French: lire
Further reading
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (lire)