The story
- Middle Dutch · calque ofwegelagen“besetting of ways, lying in wait with evil or hostile intent along public ways”
- English todaywaylay
From way + lay, likely a calque of Middle Dutch wegelagen (“besetting of ways, lying in wait with evil or hostile intent along public ways”). Compare Middle Low German wegelagen, German wegelagern (“to waylay; rob”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.