Inherited from Middle English leyen, leggen, from Old English leċġan (“to lay”), from Proto-West Germanic *laggjan, from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną (“to lay”), causative form of Proto-Germanic *ligjaną (“to lie, recline”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie, recline”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian lääse (“to lay; to lie”), West Frisian lizze (“to lay, to lie”), Cimbrian leng (“to lay”), Dutch leggen (“to lay”), German legen (“to lay”), Limburgish lègke (“to lay”), Luxembourgish leeën (“to lay”), Yiddish לייגן (leygn, “to lay”), Danish lægge (“to lay”), Faroese, Icelandic leggja (“to lay”), Norwegian Bokmål legge (“to lay”), Norwegian Nynorsk legga, legge, leggja, leggje (“to lay”), Swedish lägga (“to lay”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (lagjan, “to lay”), Old French laier, laiier, laire (“to leave”), Albanian lag (“troop, band, war encampment”).
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) Arrangement or relationship; layout.
He spoke of a flower or tree in each of the fifteen poems. A simple shape, a color, the design of a hedge, the lay of a limb inspired him in these songs to and about his loves. 1977 August 20, Jim Marko, “Building A Gay Culture—An Evening of Poetry and Theatre”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 7, page 16:
the lay of the land
(countable, uncountable) A share of the profits in a business.
I was already aware that in the whaling business they paid no wages; but all hands, including the captain, received certain shares of the profits called lays, and that these lays were proportioned to the degree of importance pertaining to the respective duties of the ship’s company. 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 16”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
While the Pequod lay at Nantucket, Peleg put Ishmael down for the three hundredth lay.
(countable, uncountable) The direction a rope is twisted.
Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.
(colloquial, countable, uncountable) A casual sexual partner.
What was I, just another lay you can toss aside as you go on to your next conquest?
To find a place like that and be discreet about it, Jones figured he needed help, so he went to see his favorite lay, Juan Carillo's woman, Carmen. 2000, R. J. Kaiser, Fruitcake, MIRA, published 2000, →ISBN, page 288:
“Because I don't want William to be just another lay. I did the slut thing, T, and it got me into a lot of trouble years ago. […] 2011, Kelly Meding, Trance, Pocket Books, →ISBN, pages 205–206:
Over the years she'd tried to tell himself that his uptown girl was just another lay. 1996, JoAnn Ross, Southern Comforts, MIRA, published 1996, →ISBN, page 166:
(colloquial, countable, uncountable) An act of sexual intercourse.
[…] She didn't become this germ freak until Thomas died. I wonder if she just needs a good lay, you know, an all-nighter?" Toots said thoughtfully. 2009, Fern Michaels, The Scoop, Kensington Books, →ISBN, pages 212–213:
“What she needs is a good lay. If she had someone to rock her world on a regular basis, she wouldn't be such a raging bit—” 2011, Pamela Yaye, Promises We Make, Kimani Press, published 2011, →ISBN:
Listening to this dismissal of his work, [Tennessee] Williams thought to himself of Wilder, “This character has never had a good lay.” 1993, David Halberstam, The Fifties, Open Road Integrated Media, published 2012, →ISBN:
Does his make-up in his room
Douse himself with cheap perfume
Eyeholes in a paper bag
Greatest lay I ever had 1996, Placebo, “Nancy Boy”:
(archaic, countable, slang, uncountable) A place or activity where someone spends a significant portion of their time.
"Well, you see, son," Kitcell had explained to Wilbur, "os-ten-siblee we are after shark-liver oil— and so we are; but also we are on any lay that turns up; ready for any game, from wrecking to barratry. 1899, Frank Norris, Blix. Moran of the Lady Letty. Essays on authorship, page 155:
Since our people have moved this boy on, and he's not to be found on his old lay 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:
I shall be on that lay nae mair 1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC:
(countable, uncountable) The laying of eggs.
The hens are off the lay at present.
(countable, obsolete, uncountable) A layer.
[…] lay in the bottom of an earthen pot some dried vine leaves, and so make a lay of Pears, and leaves till the pot is filled up, laying betwixt each lay some sliced Ginger […] 1677, Hannah Woolley, The Compleat Servant-Maid, London: T. Passinger, page 5:
1766, Thomas Amory, The Life of John Buncle, Esq., London: J. Johnson and B. Davenport, Volume 2, Section 1, p. 16, footnote 1,
[…] in one particular it exceeds the fen birds, for it has two tastes; it being brown and white meat: under a lay of brown is a lay of white meat […]
[…] the whole Body of the Church is chequer’d with different Lays of White and Black Marble […] 1718, Joseph Addison, “Sienna, Leghorne, Pisa”, in Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: J. Tonson, page 300:
[…] when we examine the Scarf-Skin with a Microscope, it appears to be made up of several Lays of exceeding small Scales, which cover one another more or less […] 1724, Thomas Spooner, chapter 2, in A Compendious Treatise of the Diseases of the Skin, London, page 20:
(countable, obsolete, uncountable) A basis or ground.
In the first MacColl patent the pattern chain and engaging rod were carried on the swinging lay on which the needle bars are mounted. 1899, “MacColl v. Crompton Loom works”, in The Federal Reporter, volume 95, page 990:
On this lay or ground we should also add the finishing colours. 1835, Richard architetto Brown, The Principles of Practical Perspective, page 122:
(countable, obsolete, qualifier:thieves' cant, uncountable) A pursuit or practice; a dodge.
FIDLAM BENS. Thieves who have no particular lay, whose every finger is a fish-hook; fellows that will steal any thing they can remove. 1859, George Washington Matsell, Vocabulum: Or, The Rogue's Lexicon. Comp. from the Most Authentic Sources, page 31:
Because I've finished, missus. Finished with the thieving lay now and forever. 1975, H. R. F. Keating, A Remarkable Case of Burglary:
"It isn't an exchange lay, at all events," said Mr Carlyle. "His inner case is only half the size of the other and couldn't possibly be substituted." 1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:
fi pano (casual sexual partner) · nl ligging (arrangement or relationship) · fi sijoittelu (arrangement or relationship) · ru сви́вка (direction a rope is twisted) · fi kierteen suunta (direction a rope is twisted) · bg свалка (casual sexual partner) · bg разположение (arrangement or relationship) · fi kierre (direction a rope is twisted) · fr coup (casual sexual partner) · ru полово́й партнёр (casual sexual partner) · fi asettelu (arrangement or relationship) · ru скру́тка (direction a rope is twisted)
Inherited from Middle English leyen, leggen, from Old English leċġan (“to lay”), from Proto-West Germanic *laggjan, from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną (“to lay”), causative form of Proto-Germanic *ligjaną (“to lie, recline”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie, recline”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian lääse (“to lay; to lie”), West Frisian lizze (“to lay, to lie”), Cimbrian leng (“to lay”), Dutch leggen (“to lay”), German legen (“to lay”), Limburgish lègke (“to lay”), Luxembourgish leeën (“to lay”), Yiddish לייגן (leygn, “to lay”), Danish lægge (“to lay”), Faroese, Icelandic leggja (“to lay”), Norwegian Bokmål legge (“to lay”), Norwegian Nynorsk legga, legge, leggja, leggje (“to lay”), Swedish lägga (“to lay”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (lagjan, “to lay”), Old French laier, laiier, laire (“to leave”), Albanian lag (“troop, band, war encampment”).
Meanings
(transitive) To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.
to lay a book on the table; to lay a body in the grave
A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 6:17:
An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’. 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part I, London: Collins, →ISBN:
Now I lay me down to sleep, / I pray the Lord my Soul to keep. / If I should die before I ’wake, / I pray the Lord my Soul to take. 1735, author unknown, The New-England Primer; as reported by Fred R. Shapiro, The Yale Book of Quotations, Yale University Press, 2006, pages 549–550:
A shower of rain lays the dust.
He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 2:
(archaic, transitive) To cause to subside or abate.
The cloudes, as things affrayd, before him flye; / But all so soone as his outrageous powre / Is layd, they fiercely then begin to shoure […] 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, book II, canto viii, verse xlviii:
Tessie lay among the cushions, her face a gray blot in the gloom, but her hands were clasped in mine and I knew that she knew and read my thoughts as I read hers, for we had understood the mystery of the Hyades and the Phantom of Truth was laid. 1895, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “The Yellow Sign”, in The King in Yellow:
He faced the spectres of the mind
And laid them: thus he came at length
To find a stronger faith his own;
And Power was with him in the night,
Which makes the darkness and the light,
And dwells not in the light alone,
But in the darkness and the cloud 1849, Alfred Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H., canto XCVI:
But how upon the winds being laid, doth the ship cease to move? 1662, Sir Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems, Dialogue 2:
(transitive) To compel a supernatural entity to cease haunting a place, often by ritual or prayer; to exorcise or banish (a spirit or ghost).
They were resolved to banish him if they could, and the spirit, who seemed to have an inkling of their design, was often heard singing in a melancholy tone:
Wae's me! wae's me!
The acorn is not yet
Fallen from the tree,
That's to grow the wood,
That's to make the cradle,
That's to rock the bairn,
That's to grow to a man,
That's to lay me. 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 296:
(transitive) To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).
Even when I lay a long plan, it is never in the expectation that I will live to see it fulfilled. 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador, published 2007, page 48:
(transitive) To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.
lay brick; lay flooring
(transitive) To produce and deposit (an egg or eggs).
Did dinosaurs lay their eggs in a nest?
The hen laid an egg.
(transitive) To bet (that something is or is not the case).
I'll lay that he doesn't turn up on Monday.
(transitive) To deposit (a stake) as a wager; to stake; to risk.
He laid a hundred guineas with the laird of Slofferfield that he would drive four horses through the Slofferfield loch, and in the prank he had his bit chariot dung to pieces and a good mare killed. 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
I dare lay mine honour / He will remain so. c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
(slang, transitive) To have sex with.
'It's because he's a no-good son of a bitch who thinks it is smart to lay his friends' wives and brag about it.' 1944, Raymond Chandler, The Lady in the Lake, Penguin, published 2011, page 11:
to get laid
(transitive) To state; to allege.
to lay the venue
(transitive) To point; to aim.
to lay a gun
(transitive) To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them.
to lay a cable or rope
(transitive) To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.
(transitive) To place (new type) properly in the cases.
(transitive) To apply; to put.
She layeth her hands to the spindle. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 31:19:
The news article laid emphasis on the unusually young age of the criminals.
(transitive) To impose (a burden, punishment, command, tax, etc.).
The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 53:6:
to lay a tax on land
(transitive) To impute; to charge; to allege.
Lay the fault on us. c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
God layeth not folly to them. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 24:12:
(transitive) To present or offer.
I have laid the facts of the matter before you.
to lay an indictment in a particular county
(intransitive) To produce and deposit an egg or eggs.
It [the Houdan breed] bears confinement well, can be kept on any soil, is very hardy, lays well, its flesh is all that can be desired, and it is a nonsitter. 1883, Stephen Beale [pseudonym; Edward Brown], “French”, in Profitable Poultry Keeping, London; New York, N.Y.: George Routledge and Sons, […], →OCLC, chapter X (The Breeds of Poultry), page 94:
In legal commentary a laying hen (cerc céin dothas) is valued at two bushels of grain, whereas a sexually active cock (cailech céin íunas) has only the value of one bushel. When a hen no longer lays and a cock is no longer capable of sexual activity, their value is reduced to half a bushel, as they are fit only for the cooking-pot. 1997, Fergus Kelly, “Hens”, in Early Irish Farming: A Study Based Mainly on the Law-Texts of the 7th and 8th Centuries ad […] (Early Irish Law Series; 4), Dublin: School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, published 2000, →ISBN, →ISSN, chapter 3 (Livestock), page 102:
While the hen is laying, the birds require complete peace and quiet and should on no account be disturbed. When the hen leaves the nest, one can gently remove the egg and replace it with a dummy egg. 1990, Maja Müller-Bierl, “Canary Reproduction”, in Canaries As a New Pet (As a New Pet), Neptune City, N.J.: T.F.H. Publications, →ISBN, page 53, column 1:
Eine ausgewachsene Legehenne hat einen Zwischenraum zwischen den Beinen, in den man gut drei Finger legen kann. Ein geringerer Abstand läßt darauf schließen, daß die Henne nicht mehr oder – bei Junghennen – nochnicht legt. 1988 [1986], Alice Stern, translated by David Kennard, “Judging a Hen”, in Poultry and Poultry-Keeping, London: Merehurst Press, →ISBN, “Chickens” section, page 39, column 1:
I never kill a pullet but keep to lay the next year. 1901 May 24, Mrs. G. A. Gibbons (Journal of Agriculture), “Poultry and Bees: How to Make Chickens Pay”, in Edwards’ Fruit Grower & Farmer, volume XI, number 2, Missoula, Minn., →OCLC, page [7], column 1:
(intransitive, of e.g. wind) To subside or abate.
I believe the wind is laying and perhaps we will not have a snow. If it turns cold without snow, we can have the hog killed. 1943, Amanda McDowell, Fiddles in the Cumberlands:
... the wind laid and Nature seemed to have recovered her good humor. The landscape smiled again, and we drove about a bit to see what the storm had done. 2010 June 28, Roy Bedichek, Karánkaway Country, University of Texas Press, →ISBN, page 61:
... the wind laid, and several hours afterward, two half frozen men staggered into the camp. 2023 October 26, M. M. Oblinger, Dick Kent with the Eskimos: Icy Adventures with Eskimo Tribes: A Tale of Arctic Exploration and Cultural Discovery, Good Press:
(intransitive) To take a position; to come or go.
to lay forward; to lay aloft
If ever there was a perfect beauty afloat, she is one; and there she lays at Spithead, and anybody in England would take her for an eight-and-twenty. I was upon the platform two hours this afternoon, looking at her. She lays just astern of the Endymion, with the Cleopatra to larboard. 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Mansfield Park: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 151:
(intransitive, proscribed) To lie: to rest in a horizontal position on a surface.
I found him laying on the floor.
Lay, lady, lay. / Lay across my big brass bed. 1969 July, Bob Dylan, “Lay Lady Lay”, in Nashville Skyline, Columbia:
Let me lay down beside you. / Let me always be with you. 1974, John Denver, “Annie’s Song”, Back Home Again, RCA
fi valmistaa (to prepare groundwork, table etc.) · nmn ʻǃnàhã (to place something down in a position of rest) · cy dodwy (to deposit an egg) · ro culca (to place something down in a position of rest) · es yacer (to have sex with) · es aovar (to deposit an egg) · cmn 放置 (to place something down in a position of rest) · ru держа́ть пари́ (to wager) · de legen (to install certain building materials) · gun nhono (to place something down in a position of rest) · cmn 下蛋 (to deposit an egg) · sl položiti (to prepare groundwork, table etc.) · fi tehdä (to install certain building materials) · no dekke (to prepare groundwork, table etc.) · uk уклада́ти (to install certain building materials) · cs pokládat (to install certain building materials) · dsb połožyś (to place something down in a position of rest) · li lègke (to place something down in a position of rest) · zza vıradayen (to leave something somewhere) · fur ovâ (to deposit an egg) · id rebah (to place something down in a position of rest) · ru класть (to place something down in a position of rest) · ru накрыва́ть (to prepare groundwork, table etc.) · gl poñer (to place something down in a position of rest) · ary نعّس (to place something down in a position of rest) · pt deixar (to leave something somewhere) · oc jaire (to place something down in a position of rest) · eo meti (to place something down in a position of rest) · fi laskea (to place something down in a position of rest) · lnj kic (to deposit an egg) · no legge (to prepare groundwork, table etc.) · tr yatırmak (to place something down in a position of rest) · cs uložit (to place something down in a position of rest) · eo kuŝigi (to place something down in a position of rest) · nl leggen (to place something down in a position of rest) · nrf pondre (to deposit an egg) · ru накры́ть (to prepare groundwork, table etc.) · es ovar (to deposit an egg) · cs pokládat (to place something down in a position of rest) · ltg likt (to place something down in a position of rest) · pl położyć (to place something down in a position of rest) · fi asettaa (to place something down in a position of rest) · mi whakapapa (to place something down in a position of rest) · gl poñer (to deposit an egg) · ru укла́дывать (to install certain building materials) · cs klást (to install certain building materials) · fi munia (to deposit an egg) · ru би́ться об закла́д (to wager) · uk нести́ (to deposit an egg) · es tirar (to have sex with) · no legge (to place something down in a position of rest) · fi maata (to have sex with) · pt deitar (to place something down in a position of rest) · uk ложи́ти (to place something down in a position of rest) · uk кла́сти (to place something down in a position of rest) · tr döşemek (to install certain building materials) · izh munnia (to deposit an egg) · th วางไข่ (to deposit an egg) · ru положи́ть (to place something down in a position of rest) · vec pondar (to deposit an egg) · lv dēt (to deposit an egg) · zdj huusa (to deposit an egg) · de legen (to place something down in a position of rest) · dsb połožowaś (to place something down in a position of rest) · fr poser (to place something down in a position of rest) · sa दधाति (to place something down in a position of rest) · pl składać (to deposit an egg) · de legen (to deposit an egg) · ar وَضَعَ (to deposit an egg) · ru укла́дывать (to place something down in a position of rest) · nl leggen (to install certain building materials) · cs vsadit si (to wager) · es acostarse (to have sex with) · fi laittaa (to place something down in a position of rest) · bn পাড়া (to deposit an egg) · no legge (to deposit an egg) · oc colcar (to place something down in a position of rest) · cs snést (to deposit an egg) · es poner (to install certain building materials) · ca pondre (to deposit an egg) · bn রাখা (to place something down in a position of rest) · pt assentar (to install certain building materials) · mi panga (to leave something somewhere) · ru уложи́ть (to place something down in a position of rest) · bg снасям (to deposit an egg) · it disporre (to prepare groundwork, table etc.) · cmn 置 (to place something down in a position of rest) · pl złożyć (to deposit an egg) · gl deitar (to place something down in a position of rest) · nl plaatsen (to install certain building materials) · tet tolun (to deposit an egg) · pt deitar-se com (to have sex with) · nl neerleggen (to place something down in a position of rest) · ca ajeure (to place something down in a position of rest) · ru откла́дывать (to deposit an egg) · pt pôr (to deposit an egg) · izh vallaa (to deposit an egg) · fr mettre (to place something down in a position of rest) · hu tojik (to deposit an egg) · de flachlegen (to have sex with) · ja 置く (to place something down in a position of rest) · sl položiti (to place something down in a position of rest) · fi jättää (to leave something somewhere) · ja 生む (to deposit an egg) · ro oua (to deposit an egg) · cmn 产卵 (to deposit an egg) · ko 눕히다 (to place something down in a position of rest) · th วาง (to place something down in a position of rest) · cs vsadit (to wager) · fa تخم گذاردن (to deposit an egg) · pl kłaść (to place something down in a position of rest) · ja 産む (to place something down in a position of rest) · fi panna (to have sex with) · ru пересыпа́ть (to have sex with) · it posare (to install certain building materials) · fi muurata (to install certain building materials) · mba hidaga (to place something down in a position of rest) · ru отложи́ть (to deposit an egg) · de ablegen (to leave something somewhere) · vec ponder (to deposit an egg) · ru уложи́ть (to install certain building materials) · sl položiti (to install certain building materials) · roa-opt deitar (to place something down in a position of rest) · tr yumurtlamak (to deposit an egg) · it lasciare (to leave something somewhere) · fur pondi (to deposit an egg) · es tender (to place something down in a position of rest) · nrf couochi (to place something down in a position of rest) · it deporre (to deposit an egg) · bg оставям (to leave something somewhere) · mi whakatakoto (to place something down in a position of rest) · to fakatō (to deposit an egg) · yi אַוועקלייגן (to place something down in a position of rest) · pt botar (to deposit an egg) · it porre (to place something down in a position of rest) · cs položit (to place something down in a position of rest) · sm tu'ufua (to deposit an egg) · fo leggja (to place something down in a position of rest) · ang āleċġan (to place something down in a position of rest) · pt dispor (to prepare groundwork, table etc.) · nl installeren (to install certain building materials) · it giacere (to have sex with) · zza ravısten (to place something down in a position of rest) · fi panna (to place something down in a position of rest) · sk zniesť (to deposit an egg) · no legge igjen (to leave something somewhere) · nl verwedden (to wager) · da lægge (to place something down in a position of rest) · bg полагам (to install certain building materials) · es echar (to place something down in a position of rest) · es acostar (to place something down in a position of rest) · ary بيّض (to deposit an egg) · vi đẻ trứng (to deposit an egg) · sv lägga (to place something down in a position of rest) · mi whakatāpapa (to place something down in a position of rest) · wa ponre (to deposit an egg) · ru переспа́ть (to have sex with) · lv likt (to place something down in a position of rest) · fr pondre (to deposit an egg) · sv lägga (to deposit an egg) · bg поставям (to place something down in a position of rest) · bg залагам (to wager) · pt preparar (to prepare groundwork, table etc.) · cmn 放 (to place something down in a position of rest) · sv ligga (to have sex with) · fi laskea (to prepare groundwork, table etc.) · gl pór (to place something down in a position of rest) · hu fektet (to place something down in a position of rest) · cs klást (to place something down in a position of rest) · bg слагам (to place something down in a position of rest) · bg басирам се (to wager) · fr coucher (to place something down in a position of rest) · no legge (to install certain building materials) · it posare (to place something down in a position of rest) · fi laannuttaa (archaic: to cause to subside or abate) · cs snášet (to deposit an egg) · ltg kluot (to install certain building materials) · es poner (to prepare groundwork, table etc.) · uk кла́сти (to deposit an egg) · ang lecgan (to place something down in a position of rest) · bg слагам (to prepare groundwork, table etc.) · got 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (to place something down in a position of rest) · es poner (to deposit an egg) · zza cısanen (to have sex with) · gl pór (to deposit an egg) · nl leggen (to deposit an egg) · fi kattaa (to prepare groundwork, table etc.) · ko 누이다 (to place something down in a position of rest) · nap cuccà (to place something down in a position of rest) · lv klāt (to install certain building materials) · yi לייגן (to place something down in a position of rest) · sk znášať (to deposit an egg) · wa coûtchî (to place something down in a position of rest) · cs šoustat (to have sex with) · mi panga (to place something down in a position of rest) · ar وَضَعَ (to place something down in a position of rest) · cs píchat (to have sex with) · fi laatoittaa (to install certain building materials) · mi whānau (to deposit an egg) · th ไข่ (to deposit an egg) · so jiifin (to place something down in a position of rest)
Inherited from Middle English lay, laye, laie, ley, leye, which may have multiple origins:
* Potentially from *læġ-, an unattested variant stem of Old English lagu m (“sea, flood, water, ocean”), if transferred to a-stem inflection (compare Old English dæġ-, dag- (“day”) > Middle English day, daw-); compare plural Middle English lawes and lauen. If so, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *lagu (“water, sea”), from Proto-Germanic *laguz (“water, sea”), from Proto-Indo-European *lókus (“water, body of water, lake”).
* Alternatively, borrowed from Old French lai, from Latin lacus (“lake, hollow, hole”), also from Proto-Indo-European *lókus.
* Alternatively, borrowed from leg-, a stem of Old Norse lǫgr, from Proto-Germanic *laguz. Compare Icelandic lögur (“liquid, fluid, lake”).
All of these theories make it a doublet of loch, Looe, and lough.
Inherited from Middle English lay, from Old French lai, from Latin lāicus, from Ancient Greek λαϊκός (laïkós). Doublet of laic.
Meanings
Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them.
a lay preacher; a lay brother
They seemed more lay than clerical.
(attributive) Non-professional; not being a member of an organized institution.
In what could become a model program for courses across the U.S., this state's gay health consultant has begun training bartenders and bar owners as lay health educators. 1985 February 2, John Zeh, “Sex Ed In Bars”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 28, page 16:
He hasn't caught a mouse since he was a slip of a kitten. Except when eating, he does nothing but sleep. […] It's a sort of disease. There's a scientific name for it. Trau- something. Traumatic symplegia, that's it. This cat has traumatic symplegia. In other words, putting it in simple language adapted to the lay mind, where other cats are content to get their eight hours, Augustus wants his twenty-four. 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VII:
It is true that in adopting the short view many of the younger economists have not merely taken over the lay notions bodily. 1958, Jacob Viner, The Long View and the Short, page 112:
cs laický (non-clergy) · nl leken- (non-professional) · es lego (non-professional) · da læg- (non-professional) · cs laický (non-professional) · nb leg- (non-clergy) · uk непрофесіона́льний (non-professional) · it laico (non-clergy) · de Laien- (non-professional) · nl amateur- (non-professional) · ga tuata (non-professional) · ca laic (non-clergy) · nb leg (non-professional) · da læg (non-professional) · fi maallikko (non-clergy) · es profano (non-professional) · it profano (non-professional) · nb lek (non-clergy) · nb leg- (non-professional) · pt leigo (not being a member of an organized institution) · sl laičen (non-professional) · ang lǣwede (non-clergy) · nn lek (non-professional) · bg светски (non-clergy) · nn lek- (non-clergy) · pt laico (not being a member of an organized institution) · pt leigo (non-professional) · ru непрофессиона́льный (non-professional) · da læg (non-clergy) · ga tuata (not being a member of an organized institution) · hu laikus (non-professional) · sv lek- (non-professional) · nb leg (non-clergy) · ru све́тский (non-clergy) · de laikal (non-clergy) · fr laïque (non-clergy) · bg непрофесионален (non-professional) · nn lek- (non-professional) · it laica (non-clergy) · ru мирско́й (non-clergy) · nn lek (non-clergy) · pt laico (non-clergy) · de Laien- (non-clergy) · nb lek- (non-clergy) · pt leigo (non-clergy) · ga tuata (non-clergy) · hu laikus (non-clergy) · enm lay (non-clergy) · nl wereldlijk (non-clergy) · sk laický (non-professional) · cs amatérský (non-professional) · es laico (non-clergy) · nl leken- (non-clergy) · enm lewed (non-clergy) · nb lek- (non-professional) · sl laičen (non-clergy) · uk непрофесі́йний (non-professional) · sk laický (non-clergy) · fi maallikko (non-professional) · sv lek- (non-clergy) · sk amatérsky (non-professional) · da læg- (non-clergy) · bg лаи́к (non-professional) · it profana (non-professional) · sl posveten (non-clergy) · nl ondeskundig (non-professional) · nb lek (non-professional) · es laico (not being a member of an organized institution) · ca profà (non-professional)
But unlike many other tunnels that lay idle and decaying, Catesby has now found a new use as an aerodynamic wind tunnel for the motor industry. 2023 November 29, Peter Plisner, “The winds of change in Catesby Tunnel”, in RAIL, number 997, page 56:
Inherited from Middle English lay, from Old French lai (“song, lyric, poem”), from Frankish *laih (“play, melody, song”), from Proto-Germanic *laikaz, *laikiz (“jump, play, dance, hymn”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“to jump, spring, play”). Akin to Old High German leih (“a play, skit, melody, song”), Middle High German leich (“piece of music, epic song played on a harp”), Old English lācan (“to move quickly, fence, sing”). See lake (“to play”). Contrast German Lied and Lied.
Meanings
A ballad or sung poem; a short poem or narrative, usually intended to be sung.
1925 The Lay of Leithien, poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, Anglo-Saxon Professor.
I strive, with wakeful melody, to cheer
The sullen gloom, sweet Philomel! like thee,
And call the stars to listen: every star
Is deaf to mine, enamour'd of thy lay. 1742, Edward Young, The Complaint: or Night-Thoughts on Life, Death & Immortality, Night I:
If these brief lays, of Sorrow born,
Were taken to be such as closed
Grave doubts and answers here proposed,
Then these were such as men might scorn: […] 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XLVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 70:
A lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance.
1945: "The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun" by JRR Tolkien
Sad is the note and sad the lay,
but mirth we meet not every day.
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lays
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Translations (14)
da kvæde (sung poem) · fi laulu (sung poem) · ru лэ (sung poem) · nn kvede (sung poem) · ru короткая балла́да (sung poem) · ga laoi (sung poem) · pt lai (sung poem) · nl lied (sung poem) · da kvad (sung poem) · nl ballade (sung poem) · fr lai (poem written in octosyllabic couplets) · sv kväde (sung poem) · ru короткая песенка (sung poem) · bg балада (sung poem)
From Middle English lay, laye, laiȝe, leyȝe, from Old English lǣh, lēh, northern (Anglian) variants of Old English lēah (“lea”). More at lea.
Meanings
(obsolete) A meadow; a lea.
Having destroyed all old lays, I have no other hay than clover. 1808, John Curwen, Hints on the Economy of Feeding Stock and Bettering the Condition of the Poor:
Inherited from Middle English lay, lai, laye, ley, lei, borrowed from Old French lei (“law”). Possibly also from or influenced by the etymologically unrelated Middle English lawe (“law”) (with variants including laige, laiȝh, læȝe), from Old English lagu (“law”). More at law.
Meanings
(obsolete) A law.
A woman worthy of immortall prayse, / Which for this Realme found many goodly layes 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 42:
(obsolete) An obligation; a vow.
they bound themselues by a sacred lay and oth to fight it out to the last man 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “(please specify |book=I to XXXVII)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:
Semantic loan from Yiddish לייגן (leygn, “to put, lay”).
Meanings
(Judaism, transitive) To don or put on (tefillin (phylacteries)).
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laid
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laying
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lays
Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres
lexicographic
Relateds
snaffling lay (other terms containing the word "lay", with unclear etymology) · gooseberry lay (other terms containing the word "lay", with unclear etymology) · kinchin lay (other terms containing the word "lay", with unclear etymology)