lay

lay · verb, noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*legʰ-
2. Proto-Indo-European*logʰéyeti
3. Proto-Germanic*lagjaną
4. Proto-West Germanic*laggjan
5. Old Englishleċġan
6. Middle Englishleyen
7. English todaylay

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”).

lay · noun²

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*laguz
2. Old Norse · derived fromlǫgr
3. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*lókus
4. Latin · derived fromlacus“lake, hollow, hole”
5. Old French · derived fromlai
6. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*lókus“water, body of water, lake”
7. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*laguz“water, sea”
8. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*lagu“water, sea”
9. Old English · inherited fromlagu m“sea, flood, water, ocean”
10. Middle English · inherited fromlay, laye, laie, ley, leye
11. English todaylay

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.

lay · adjective³

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromλαϊκός
2. Latin · derived fromlāicus
3. Old French · derived fromlai
4. Middle English · inherited fromlay
5. English todaylay

Inherited from Middle English lay, from Old French lai, from Latin lāicus, from Ancient Greek λαϊκός (laïkós). Doublet of laic.

lay · verb⁴

1. Old English · inherited fromlæġ
2. Old English · inherited fromlæġ
3. English todaylay

Inherited from Old English læġ.

lay · noun⁵

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*leyg-“to jump, spring, play”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*laikaz
3. Frankish · derived from*laih“play, melody, song”
4. Old French · derived fromlai“song, lyric, poem”
5. Middle English · inherited fromlay
6. English todaylay

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.

lay · noun⁶

1. Old English · inherited fromlǣh
2. Middle English · inherited fromlay
3. English todaylay

From Middle English lay, laye, laiȝe, leyȝe, from Old English lǣh, lēh, northern (Anglian) variants of Old English lēah (“lea”). More at lea.

lay · noun⁷

1. Old English · derived fromlagu“law”
2. Old French · derived fromlei“law”
3. Middle English · inherited fromlay, lai, laye, ley, lei
4. English todaylay

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.

lay · verb⁸

1. Yiddish · semantic loan fromלייגן“to put, lay”
2. English todaylay

Semantic loan from Yiddish לייגן (leygn, “to put, lay”).

Lay · proper noun⁹

1. Medieval Latin · derived fromLedius
2. Khmer · derived fromឡាយ
3. English todayLay

* As an English surname, spelling variant of Lee. * As a Scottish surname, reduced from McClay. * As a Khmer surname, Khmer ឡាយ (laay). * As a French surname, from several place names in France. The river is from Medieval Latin Ledius. * As a German surname, from various placenames in Bavaria and Rhineland.

Words from the same roots