Etymologically
Log in

layer

Etymology and origin of the English word layer

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1282

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈleɪ.ə/, /leə/, US /ˈleɪ.ɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from lay and -er,[2][3][4] first as Middle English legger and leyer, from leggen, leien “to lay”.[3][5] Hoad suggests mixed sources for the senses: the stratum sense first appeared as lear, which may be a variant of lair,[4][6] and Etymonline notes that because its first use was in cookery it may be from French liue “binding”.[2] The horticultural sense may follow Dutch (af)legger.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who lays stones, a mason: legger in 1282 and leyer before 1382, in the Wycliffe Bible.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

A thickness of material spread over a surface is from 1615.[7][3] A shoot pegged down to take root is from the 17th century.[4] A laying hen is from 1707.[7][2] Layer cake is from 1875 in Etymonline, 1881 in Barnhart.[2][3] The verb is from 1779, for propagating a plant,[2] and to form into layers from 1852.[2] A formation of aircraft at one height is from 1940.[7]

Timeline

  • 1282 – legger, a mason.[3]
  • 1615 – a thickness spread over a surface.[7]
  • 1707 – a laying hen.[7]
  • 1779 – the verb, in gardening.[2]
  • 1875 – layer cake.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A sheet or thickness of a substance lying over or under another: a layer of dust.
  2. One of several levels in a structure or system.
  3. A hen that lays eggs.
  4. A shoot bent down and covered with soil so that it takes root.

Verb

  1. To arrange or form in layers.
  2. To cut hair in overlapping lengths.
  3. To grow a new plant from a layer.

Word family

  • layered
  • layerable
  • bilayer
  • interlayer
  • layerage
  • monolayer
  • multilayer
  • underlayer
  • lay
  • lair
  • bricklayer

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Layer.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/layer. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·