Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Ira Gershwin

Ira Gershwin

4 7.7
A person who wrote lyrics for musicals with his brother George Gershwin
  • proper noun
  • /ˈaɪrə ˈɡɜrʃwɪn/
: Ira Gershwin
  • The songwriting partnership between George and Ira Gershwin produced some of the greatest hits of the 20th century.

Examples

  • Many music historians credit Ira Gershwin with elevating the art of lyric writing in American musical theater.

  • Ira Gershwin wrote the lyrics for many of the classic songs composed by his brother George.

  • The famous lyricist Ira Gershwin wrote many timeless songs.

  • Did Ira Gershwin collaborate with his brother George?

  • Ira Gershwin wrote the lyrics for many of the classic songs composed by his brother George.

  • Many music historians credit Ira Gershwin with elevating the art of lyric writing in American musical theater.

  • The songwriting partnership between George and Ira Gershwin produced some of the greatest hits of the 20th century.

Surface Forms

Ira Gershwin main

Morphology

Ira + Gershwin

This is a proper name composed of a given name and a surname; knowing the individual elements ('Ira' and 'Gershwin') does not allow a B1 learner to infer the biographical meaning ‘American lyricist (1896–1983)’. Proper nouns require world knowledge and are not compositionally transparent across languages, so the expression is opaque to learners who only know the constituent words.

Etymology

Ira Gershwin was an American writer who wrote the 'lyrics', the words for many famous songs while his brother George wrote the music. Because his clever words helped make those songs famous, his name now stands for a great 'lyricist'.