Meaning

noun a harp used by ancient Greeks for accompaniment

originFrom Middle English lire (13th c.), from Old French lire, from Latin lyra, from Ancient Greek λύρᾱ (lúrā, “lyre, a stringed instrument with a sounding-board formed of the shell of a tortoise”). Doublet of lira, lyra, and Lyra.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0