Etymology

inlay

I1N1L1A1Y4

Today it means: To place (pieces of a foreign material) within another material to form a decorative design. Full definition →

English lay ← Middle English leyen ← Old English leċġan
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Germanic*in
  3. Proto-West Germanic*in
  4. Old Englishin
  5. Old Englishin-
  6. Middle Englishin-
  7. Englishin-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*legʰ-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*logʰéyeti
  10. Proto-Germanic*lagjaną
  11. Proto-West Germanic*laggjan
  12. Old Englishleċġan
  13. Middle Englishleyen
  14. Englishlay
  15. English todayinlay

From in- + lay.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.