Lay

English

Most common English words: open « therefore « feet « #324: lay » along » four » wish

Pronunciation

• enPR: lā, IPA: /leɪ/, SAMPA: /leI/

• Audio (US)	noicon
  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ
• Homophones: lei, ley

Etymology 1

Old English lecgan, from Germanic. A causative form of lie. Cognate with Dutch leggen, German legen, Swedish lägga.

Verb

Infinitive to Lay

Third person singular lays

Simple past laid

Past participle -

Present participle laying

to Lay (third-person singular simple present lays, present participle laying, simple past and past participle laid)

1. (transitive) To place something down in a position of rest.
2. (transitive, archaic) To cause to subside or abate.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.viii:

     The cloudes, as things affrayd, before him flye; / But all so soone as his outrageous powre / Is layd, they fiercely then begin to shoure [...].

3. (transitive) To leave something somewhere.
4. (transitive) To prepare (e.g., the groundwork, the table).
5. (transitive) To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.

   lay brick

   lay flooring

6. (transitive) To produce and deposit an egg.
7. (transitive) To wager that an event will not take place.
8. (transitive, slang) To have sex with.

Antonyms

• (wager on an event): back

Derived terms

terms derived from lay

lay a finger on lay a foundation lay an egg lay about lay away lay bare lay-by/lay by lay claim lay down lay hands on lay-in

lay into lay low layoff lay on the line lay on the table lay out lay siege lay the groundwork lay to rest lay up lay waste get laid

Translations

to place something down in a position of rest

Arabic: وضع ar(ar) (waDa`a) Chinese: Mandarin: 放 cmn(cmn) (fàng), 置 cmn(cmn) (zhì), 放置 cmn(cmn) (fàngzhì) Danish: lægge da(da) Dutch: leggen nl(nl) Finnish: asettaa fi(fi), panna fi(fi), laittaa fi(fi) French: coucher fr(fr) German: legen de(de) Indonesian: meletakkan, menempatkan

Italian: posare it(it), porre it(it) Japanese: 置く (おく, oku), 産む (うむ) Lojban: punji Old English: lecgan ang(ang) Russian: класть ru(ru) (klast’) (impf.), положить ru(ru) (položít’) REDIRECT Template:pf. Slovene: položiti sl(sl) Spanish: acostar es(es) Swedish: lägga sv(sv) Turkish: yatırmak tr(tr)

to prepare

Italian: disporre it(it) Slovene: položiti sl(sl)

Spanish: poner es(es)

to install certain building materials

Italian: posare it(it) Slovene: položiti sl(sl)

Spanish: poner es(es) Turkish: döşemek tr(tr)

to give birth to eggs

Finnish: munia fi(fi) French: pondre fr(fr) Italian: deporre it(it)

Lojban: se jbena, seljbe Spanish: poner es(es) Turkish: yumurtlamak tr(tr)

to have sexual intercourse

German: flachlegen de(de) Spanish: tumbar es(es), tirar es(es)

Swedish: ligga sv(sv)

Etymology 2

From the verb.

Noun

Singular Lay

Plural {{{1}}}

Lay ({{{1}}})

1. Arrangement or relationship; layout.

   Template:Non-standard the lay of the land (rather than the standard the lie of the land).

2. The direction a rope is twisted.

   Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.

3. A casual sexual partner.

   What was I, just another lay you can toss aside as you go on to your next conquest?

4. A ballad or sung poem.

   1805 The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Sir Walter Scott

Synonyms

See WikiSaurus:promiscuous woman

Translations

arrangement or relationship

• Dutch: ligging f.

Etymology 3

From Old French lai

Adjective

Lay (comparative {{{1}}}, superlative {{{2}}})

Positive Lay

Comparative {{{1}}}

Superlative {{{2}}}

1. Non-professional, not being a member of an organized institution (e.g. scientific lay person).

   A lay judge: a judge selected from among the people, usually to sit alongside professional judges.

2. Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them.

   They seemed more lay than clerical.

   A lay brother: A monk who has not fully entered into the monastic life and vows. 'The male branch of the Franciscan family, a community of Lesser Brothers, is made up of men who are both clergy and consecrated laity traditionally called "lay brothers".'

Related terms

• laity
• layman

Translations

non-professional

Czech: laický cs(cs) Dutch: leken- Finnish: maallikko fi(fi) German: Laien-

Italian: profano it(it) m., profana it(it) f. Portuguese: leigo pt(pt) Swedish: lek-

non-clergy

Dutch: leken-, wereldlijk Finnish: maallikko fi(fi) German: Laien-

Italian: laico it(it) m., laica it(it) f. Old English: læwed ang(ang) Swedish: lek-

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Hungarian: laikus

Etymology 4

See lie

Verb

lay

1. Template:Simple past of when pertaining to position.

   The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.

Derived terms

• layabout

Etymology 5

Middle English from Old French lai (“‘song, lyric, poem’”), of Template:Gem[[Category:Template:Gem derivations|Lay]] origin, from Template:Frk[[Category:Template:Frk derivations|Lay]] *laik, laih (“‘play, melody, song’”) from Proto-Germanic *laikaz, laikiz (“‘jump, play, dance’”) from Proto-Indo-European *(e)laig'- (“‘to jump, spring, play’”). Akin to Old High German leih (“‘a play, skit, melody, song’”), Template:Gmh [[leich#Template:Gmh|leich]] (“‘piece of music, epic song played on a harp’”), Old English lācan (“‘to move quickly, fence, sing’”).

Noun

Singular Lay

Plural {{{1}}}

Lay ({{{1}}})

1. a short song
2. a short poem or narrative, one usually intended to be sung

Derived terms

• layoff

Anagrams

• Aly,

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Malagasy

Etymology

Common Malayo-Polynesian, compare Indonesian layar

Noun

Lay [[Category:Template:Mg nouns|Lay]]

1. sail

References

ca:lay et:lay el:lay es:lay eu:lay fr:lay gl:lay hr:lay io:lay it:lay kn:lay ku:lay lo:lay lt:lay li:lay hu:lay ml:lay my:lay ja:lay pl:lay pt:lay ru:lay simple:lay fi:lay ta:lay te:lay tr:lay uk:lay vi:lay wo:lay zh:lay