[ˈliː.bra], [ˈliː.bra]
OriginOf uncertain origin. The word's original form was something like Proto-Italic *līðrā, *leiðrā (“pound”), surviving also in Ancient Greek λίτρα (lítra), whence English liter.
Weiss derives the term from Proto-Indo-European *leyH- (“to pour”) suffixed with the instrumental/resultative suffix *-dʰrom, under the assumption that the term originally meant "pouring (of metal)" before evolving to mean a unit of weight. In this case, then cognate with Proto-Slavic *lìti (“to pour”), Proto-Celtic *liyeti (“to flow”), Ancient Greek λείβω (leíbō, “to pour”), Lithuanian li̇́eti (“to let flow”).
- declension-1, historicallibra, Roman pound, a Roman unit of mass, equivalent to about 327 g
- declension-1scales, a tool used to balance two weights to measure amounts
- declension-1level, a tool used to check surfaces for horizontal and vertical alignment
- Medieval-Latin, New-Latin, declension-1pound, any of various units of mass derived from or roughly equivalent to the Roman libra
- Medieval-Latin, New-Latin, declension-1pound, any of various currencies derived from the use of pound as a weight in silver
- active, form-of, imperative, present, second-personsecond-person singular present active imperative of lībrō
- declension-1Libra, one of the constellations of the Zodiac
Formslībra(canonical, feminine) · lībrae(genitive) · lībra(nominative, singular) · lībrae(nominative, plural) · lībrae(genitive, singular) · lībrārum(genitive, plural) · lībrae(dative, singular) · lībrīs(dative, plural) · lībram(accusative, singular) · lībrās(accusative, plural) · lībrā(ablative, singular) · lībrīs(ablative, plural) · lībra(singular, vocative) · lībrae(plural, vocative) · lībrā(canonical) · Lībra(canonical, feminine, singular) · Lībrae(genitive)