Editing Lyrics (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Ur lyre.jpg|right|thumb|175px|A [[lyre|lyrist]] on the [[Standard of Ur]], {{circa|lk=no|2500}}&nbsp;BC]]

The word ''lyric'' derives via [[Latin]] ''{{wikt-lang|la|lyricus}}'' from the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{wikt-lang|grc|λυρικός}} (''{{grc-transl|λυρικός}}''),<ref name=oed>{{OED|lyric|access-date=2014-01-15}}</ref> the adjectival form of ''[[lyre]]''.<ref>[[Liddell, Henry]] & al. ''[[A Greek–English Lexicon]]'' 9th ed., "[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=λυρικός&la=greek#Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=luriko/s-contents {{lang|grc|λυρικός}}]". [[Clarendon Press]] ([[Oxford, England|Oxford]]), 1996. Hosted at the [[Perseus Project]]. Accessed 15&nbsp;Jan&nbsp;2014.</ref> It first appeared in English in the mid-16th century in reference to the [[Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey|Earl of Surrey]]'s translations of [[Petrarch]] and to his own [[sonnet]]s.<ref>Sidney, Philip. ''An Apologie for Poetrie'' op.&nbsp;cit. ''OED'' (1903).</ref> [[Greek lyric|Greek lyric poetry]] had been defined by the manner in which it was sung accompanied by the [[lyre]] or [[cithara]],<ref>Miller, Andrew. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=80MpjrOfTH8C Greek Lyric: An Anthology in Translation]'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=80MpjrOfTH8C&pg=PR12 pp.&nbsp;xii&nbsp;ff]. Hackett Publishing (Indianapolis), 1996. {{ISBN|978-0872202917}}.</ref> as opposed to the chanted formal [[Greek epic poetry|epics]] or the more passionate [[elegiac couplet#Greek origins|elegies]] accompanied by the [[aulos|flute]]. The personal nature of many of the verses of the [[Nine Lyric Poets]] led to the present sense of "[[lyric poetry]]" but the original Greek sense of "lyric poetry"{{mdash}}"poetry accompanied by the lyre" i.e. "words set to music"{{mdash}}eventually led to its use as "lyrics", first attested in [[Sir John Stainer|Stainer]] and Barrett's 1876 ''Dictionary of Musical Terms''.<ref>Stainer, John & al. ''A Dictionary of Musical Terms'', p.&nbsp;276. (London), 1876.</ref> Stainer and Barrett used the word as a singular substantive: "''Lyric'', poetry or blank verse intended to be set to music and sung". By the 1930s, the present use of the [[plurale tantum]] "lyrics" had begun; it has been standard since the 1950s for many writers.<ref name=oed/> The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song by authorities such as Alec Wilder,<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilder |first=Alec |date=1972 |title=American Popular Song |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195014457 |url=https://archive.org/details/americanpopulars00alec }}</ref> Robert Gottlieb,<ref>{{cite book |last=Gottlieb |first=Robert |date=2000 |title=Reading Lyrics |location=New York |publisher=Pantheon Books |isbn=9780375400810}}</ref> and Stephen Sondheim.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sondheim |first=Stephen |date=2011 |title=Finishing the Hat |location=New York |publisher=Knopf |isbn=9780679439073 |url=https://archive.org/details/finishinghat00 }}</ref> However, the singular form is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics.