lay

English has three main words spelled lay: the verb “to put down”, inherited from Old English; the adjective “not of the clergy”, from Greek through Latin and French; and the noun “a song”, from Old French, of uncertain origin.^[1][2][3] Lay is also the past tense of lie “to recline”.^[4][1]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /leɪ/^[5]

lay¹ to put down

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English leyen, leggen,^[2][6] inherited from Old English lecgan (“to place on the ground; to put down”),^[7][2] from Proto-Germanic *lagojanan,^[7][2] the causative of the verb that became lie “to recline”,^[7][6][8] from Proto-Indo-European *legh- (“to lie down, lay”).^[7][2][9] Cognates include Old Saxon leggian, Old Norse leggja, Dutch leggen, German legen and Gothic lagjan.^[7][2] Hoad explains that the regular descendant of lecgan was Middle English legge, kept in dialect ledge “to lay eggs”, while lay comes from the Old English second and third person forms.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To put down”: Old English before 725, in Genesis A, and Middle English leyen about 1150, according to Barnhart.^[2]

Semantic evolution

“To bring forth and deposit”, as eggs, and “to stake”, as a bet, were already Old English,^[7] as was “to put down by striking”, kept in to lay someone low, “to defeat, humble, kill” (late 14th century).^[7] To lay aside is by the late 14th century,^[7] to lay for someone, “to wait for a chance at revenge”, from the late 15th century,^[7] and to lay low, “to stay inconspicuous”, from 1839.^[7] The noun, the act of laying a tax, is from 1558,^[2][10] a wager from the 1580s,^[7][10] and the way a thing lies, as in the lay of the land, from 1819.^[2][7] The slang “line of business” is from 1707.^[7][10] “To have sex with” is United States slang, recorded by 1934, probably from “to deposit”, perhaps reinforced by the biblical to lie with;^[7] the noun “a woman seen as available for sex” is attested from 1930.^[7]

Timeline

• a. 725 – to put down.^[2]
• late 14th century – lay someone low and lay aside.^[7]
• 1558 – noun, a tax.^[2][10]
• 1580s – a wager.^[7][10]
• 1707 – a line of business.^[7][10]
• 1819 – the lay of the land.^[2][7]
• 1839 – lay low.^[7]
• 1934 – to have sex with.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To put or set down: laid the book on the table.
2. To cause to lie down.
3. To place in a particular position or state: lay waste.
4. Of birds and other animals, to produce and deposit eggs.
5. To put forward for consideration: lay a claim.
6. To bet or wager.
7. To prepare or arrange: lay the table.
8. (vulgar slang) To have sex with.

Noun

1. The way or position in which something lies: the lay of the land.
2. The direction or amount of twist in the strands of a rope.
3. (vulgar slang) Sex, or a sexual partner.

Word family

• layer
• layout
• layoff
• outlay
• inlay
• waylay
• layby

lay² not of the clergy

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English lai,^[2][7] borrowed from Old French lai (“secular, not of the clergy”) (modern French laïque),^[7][2] from Late Latin lāicus,^[7][2] from Ancient Greek λαϊκός (laïkós, “of the people”),^[7][2][9] from λαός (laós, “the people, the common folk”), a word of unknown origin.^[7][2][11] Beekes considers it most often connected with Hittite and Old Irish words for “campaign” and “warrior”, but more likely Pre-Greek.^[7] Laic is a later borrowing directly from Late Latin.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Secular”: about 1303, in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne;^[2] of persons, “not in holy orders”, about 1330 in the OED,^[10] the early 14th century in Etymonline.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English it was also “unlearned, uneducated”, contrasted with learned, from before 1338;^[2][10] this sense was revived in 1810 as “non-professional, not expert”, especially in law and medicine.^[7][10] Layman, a man outside the clergy or a profession, is probably from about 1425,^[2] and laywoman from 1529, in Thomas More.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1303 – secular.^[2]
• c. 1330 – not of the clergy.^[10]
• a. 1338 – unlearned.^[2]
• c. 1425 – layman.^[2]
• 1810 – non-professional.^[7][10]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of or relating to the laity, as distinct from the clergy.
2. Not of a particular profession; non-professional: a lay audience.

Word family

• layman
• laywoman
• layperson
• laity

lay³ song

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English lai,^[2][7] borrowed from Old French lai (“song, lyric”),^[7][2] a word of unknown origin.^[7][3][12] It has been taken as Celtic, since the earliest lays were Arthurian ballads, comparing Irish laid “song, poem” and Gaelic laoidh;^[7][2][11] Bloch and Wartburg favour a Celtic origin,^[2] but the OED finds this out of the question and prefers a Germanic source such as Old High German leich “play, melody, song”.^[7][2] Merriam-Webster suggests Old Norse lag “tune, metre”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A short lyric or narrative poem to be sung: before 1240 in the OED,^[10] before 1250 in Barnhart,^[2] the mid-13th century in Etymonline.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In poetry it was also used of the song of birds, from the 14th century,^[10] and as a strain or tune from before 1529, now obsolete.^[10]

Timeline

• a. 1240 – a song.^[10]
• 14th century – the song of birds.^[10]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A narrative poem, such as one sung by medieval minstrels; a ballad.
2. A song or tune.

Word family

• roundelay

Usage notes

On lay and lie: lay, “to put or place”, takes an object (he laid the newspaper on the table), while lie, “to recline or be situated”, does not, and its past tense is lay; the American Heritage notes that the two are frequently confused.^[4] Rarer words of the same spelling include an Old English lay “lake, pool”, long obsolete except in dialect,^[10][3] lay “alloy”, as in lay metal, a kind of pewter,^[10][3] and the dialect lay, the batten of a loom, an alteration of lathe.^[3][6]

References

1. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press