litre

litre
\ \ [19] Litre goes back to Greek lītrā, a term which denoted a Sicilian monetary unit. This found its way via medieval Latin litrā into French as litron, where it was used for a unit of capacity. By the 18th century it had rather fallen out of use, but in 1793 it was revived, in the form litre, as the name for the basic unit of capacity in the new metric system. It is first recorded in English in 1810.
\ \ The Greek word was descended from an earlier, unrecorded *līthrā, which was borrowed into Latin as lībra ‘pound’. This is the source of various modern terms for units of weight, and hence of currency, including Italian lira and the now disused French livre, and it also lies behind the English symbol £ for ‘pound’.
\ \ Cf.⇒ LEVEL, LIRA

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • litre — 1. (li tr ) s. f. Bande noire tendue aux obsèques d un grand personnage soit en dedans soit en dehors de l église et portant les armoiries du défunt. •   On voit leurs armes sur les litres et sur les vitrages, LA BRUY. IX..    Aujourd hui on… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • litre — li‧tre [ˈliːtə ǁ ər] , liter written abbreviation l noun [countable] 1. the basic unit for measuring liquid in the metric system …   Financial and business terms

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  • litre — lítre m DEFINICIJA razg. (ob. u šali) onaj koji mnogo pije vino, koji ispija na litre ETIMOLOGIJA vidi litra …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • litre — LITRE. s. f. Grande bande ou ceinture noire autour d une Eglise ou d une Chappelle en dedans & en dehors, sur laquelle sont peintes les armoiries du Seigneur du lieu, aprés son deceds. Il a droit de litre, il est Seigneur & Patron …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • litre — m. litre …   Diccionari Personau e Evolutiu

  • Litre — Li tre (l[=e] t[ e]r; 277), n. [F.] Same as {Liter}. [Chiefly Brit.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Litre — (spr. Lit r), die jetzige Einheit des französischen Hohlmaßes (seit der Revolution); sein Inhalt entspricht 1 Kubikdecimètre = 0,001 Kubikmètre = 50,4124378 Pariser Cubikzoll od. 1,074 alte Pariser Pinte, 1 L. = 0,87326 preußische Quart; mit… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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  • Litre — (litr), die Einheit des französ. Hohlmaßes, der Würfel eines Decimeters = 50,4 Kubikzoll = 0,8733 Berliner Quart …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

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