Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Livre

Li′vre

,
Noun.
[F., fr. L.
libra
a pound of twelve ounces. Cf.
Lira
.]
A French money of account, afterward a silver coin equal to 20 sous. It is not now in use, having been superseded by the franc.

Webster 1828 Edition


Livre

LI'VRE

,
Noun.
[L. libra.] A French money of account, equal to 20 sous, or ten pence sterling.

Definition 2024


livre

livre

See also: livré

English

Noun

livre (plural livres)

  1. (historical) A unit of currency formerly used in France, divided into 20 sols or sous.
    • 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial, published 2007, page 115:
      They like to see them awarded comfortable pensions. Is it 700,000 livres a year to the Polignac family?
    • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 30:
      He never, it should be noted, totally renounced his inheritance: a critic of the court round, he benefited to the tune of a cool two million livres a year from royal largesse [] .

Anagrams


French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /livʁ/

Etymology 1

From Old French livre, borrowed as a semi-learned term from Latin liber, librum.

Noun

livre m (plural livres)

  1. book
Synonyms
Related terms

Etymology 2

From Old French livre, from Latin libra.

Noun

livre f (plural livres)

  1. pound (unit of weight)
  2. pound (unit of currency)
See also

Etymology 3

Verb

livre

  1. first-person singular present indicative of livrer
  2. third-person singular present indicative of livrer
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of livrer
  4. third-person singular present subjunctive of livrer
  5. second-person singular imperative of livrer

Norman

Etymology 1

From Old French livre, borrowed as a semi-learned term from Latin liber, librum.

Noun

livre m (plural livres)

  1. (Jersey) book
Derived terms
Related terms

Etymology 2

From Latin libra.

Noun

livre f (plural livres)

  1. pound (unit of measure of mass)

Old French

Etymology 1

Semi-learned borrowing from Latin liber, librum.

Noun

livre m (oblique plural livres, nominative singular livres, nominative plural livre)

  1. book (collection of sheets of paper in a specific order)
Descendants

Etymology 2

From Latin libra.

Noun

livre f (oblique plural livres, nominative singular livre, nominative plural livres)

  1. livre (medieval French equivalent of a monetary pound)
  2. pound (weight)
Usage notes
  • The Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle says that the actual measure varied between 380g and 552g, as opposed to the modern pound which is 454g to the near gram. See references below.
Descendants

References


Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Portuguese livre, libre, from Latin līber, from Old Latin loeber, from Proto-Italic *louðeros, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lewdʰ-er-os, from *h₁lewdʰ- (people).

Pronunciation

  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈli.vɾɨ/
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈli.vɾi/
  • Hyphenation: li‧vre

Adjective

livre (plural, comparable)

  1. free
  2. unoccupied
  3. clear, open

Related terms

Verb

livre

  1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of livrar
  2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of livrar
  3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of livrar
  4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of livrar