lay

Etymology 1

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 West Frisian lizze (“to lay, to lie”), Dutch leggen (“to lay”), German legen (“to lay”), Norwegian Bokmål legge (“to lay”), Norwegian Nynorsk leggja (“to lay”), Swedish lägga (“to lay”), Icelandic leggja (“to lay”), Albanian lag (“troop, band, war encampment”).

verb

1. (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 shower of rain lays the dust.
   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
2. (transitive, archaic) 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
   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
   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
   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
3. (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
4. (transitive) To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.
   lay brick; lay flooring
5. (transitive) To produce and deposit an egg.
   the hen laid an egg
   Did dinosaurs lay their eggs in a nest?
6. (transitive) To bet (that something is or is not the case).
   I'll lay that he doesn't turn up on Monday.
7. (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
8. (transitive, slang) 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
9. (nautical) To take a position; to come or go.
   to lay forward; to lay aloft
10. (law) To state; to allege.
    to lay the venue
11. (military) To point; to aim.
    to lay a gun
12. (ropemaking) 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
13. (printing) To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.
14. (printing) To place (new type) properly in the cases.
15. To apply; to put.
    The news article laid emphasis on the unusually young age of the criminals.
16. To impose (a burden, punishment, command, tax, etc.).
    to lay a tax on land
17. To impute; to charge; to allege.
18. To present or offer.
    to lay an indictment in a particular county
    I have laid the facts of the matter before you.
19. (intransitive, proscribed, see usage notes) 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

noun

1. Arrangement or relationship; layout.
   the lay of the land
2. A share of the profits in a business.
3. The direction a rope is twisted.
   Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.
4. (colloquial) A casual sexual partner.
   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, page 166
   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, 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, pages 205–206
   What was I, just another lay you can toss aside as you go on to your next conquest?
5. (colloquial) An act of sexual intercourse.
   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
   Does his make-up in his room Douse himself with cheap perfume Eyeholes in a paper bag Greatest lay I ever had 1996, Placebo (lyrics and music), “Nancy Boy”
   […] 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, 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
6. (slang, archaic) 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
7. The laying of eggs.
   The hens are off the lay at present.
8. (obsolete) 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
   […] 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
   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 […]
9. (obsolete) A basis or ground.
   On this lay or ground we should also add the finishing colours. 1835, Richard architetto Brown, The Principles of Practical Perspective, page 122
   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

Etymology 2

From Middle English laie, lawe, from Old English lagu (“sea, flood, water, ocean”), from Proto-West Germanic *lagu (“water, sea”), from Proto-Germanic *laguz (“water, sea”), from Proto-Indo-European *lókus (“water, body of water, lake”). Cognate with Icelandic lögur (“liquid, fluid, lake”), Latin lacus (“lake, hollow, hole”).

noun

1. A lake.

Etymology 3

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

adj

1. Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them.
   They seemed more lay than clerical.
   a lay preacher; a lay brother
2. Non-professional; not being a member of an organized institution.
   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
   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
3. (card games) Not trumps.
   a lay suit
4. (obsolete) Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.

Etymology 4

See lie. This word was influenced by the present tense verb lay.

verb

1. simple past of lie (etymology 1)
   The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.

Etymology 5

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.

noun

1. A ballad or sung poem; a short poem or narrative, usually intended to be sung.
   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
   1805, Sir Walter Scott., The Lay of the Last Minstrel:
   1925 The Lay of Leithien, poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, Anglo-Saxon Professor.
2. 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.

Etymology 6

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

noun

1. (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

Etymology 7

From Middle English laige, læȝe, variants of Middle English lawe (“law”). More at law.

noun

1. (obsolete) A law.
2. (obsolete) An obligation; a vow.

Etymology 8

Calque of Yiddish לייגן (leygn, “to put, lay”).

verb

1. (Judaism, transitive) To don or put on (tefillin (phylacteries)).