Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Lyrid \Ly"rid\ (l[imac]"r[i^]d), n. (Astron.)
   One of the group of shooting stars which come into the air in
   certain years on or about the 19th of April; -- so called
   because the apparent path among the stars the stars if
   produced back wards crosses the constellation Lyra.