Lyrics
nounThe words of a song, as distinct from its music.
How to spell lyrics
6 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce lyrics
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does lyrics mean?
- nounThe words of a song, as distinct from its music.
Lyrics in a sentence
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She printed the lyrics so the choir could rehearse together.
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He could hum the tune but kept forgetting the lyrics.
Where does lyrics come from?
Language of origin: Greek
This word traces back to the ancient Greek lyrikos, meaning 'singing to the lyre', formed from lyra, the small stringed instrument that poets once strummed while reciting their verse. The Greek adjective passed into Latin as lyricus and then into French as lyrique before reaching English in the late sixteenth century. At first 'lyric' described a poem suited to being sung, in contrast to narrative or dramatic poetry, and only later did it settle into its modern meaning: the actual words of a song. The plural 'lyrics' became the everyday term for the text of a popular song over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Because the spelling preserves the Greek 'y' of lyra rather than an 'i', it quietly reminds us that this little word still carries the name of that ancient instrument.
How the word is built
- lyric (of the lyre, song-like)
- -s (plural)
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