lie

English has two words spelled lie: “to recline”, from Old English licgan, and “to speak falsely”, from Old English lēogan.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /laɪ/^[4]

lie¹ recline

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English lien, liggen,^[1] inherited from Old English licgan (“to be situated, remain, be at rest, lie down”),^[5][1] from Proto-Germanic *legjan,^[5] the source also of Old Frisian lidzia, Old Saxon liggian, Dutch liggen, Old High German ligen (German liegen), Old Norse liggja and Gothic ligan.^[5][1] Outside Germanic it is related to Old Irish lige “bed”, Latin lectus “bed”, Greek léchos “bed” and Old Church Slavonic ležati “to lie”,^[1][2] from Proto-Indo-European *legh- (“to lie down, lay”).^[5][1] Middle English liggen is the regular development of licgan; the form lien, which gave modern lie, was made from the stem of the Old English second and third person singular, ligst, ligþ.^[1][3] The noun, “the way something lies”, is from the verb.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

To be in a flat or resting position: about 725, in Beowulf.^[1] The Middle English form lien is recorded in 1137.^[1]

Semantic evolution

The word was used especially of lying in bed, and so with sexual implication: lie with, “to have intercourse with”, is from about 1300,^[5] and Old English had licgan mid “to cohabit with”.^[5] From “to be at rest” it came to mean to be situated or to remain in a condition, as in the town lies on a river or lie idle.^[5][6] The noun, the manner or position in which something lies, is from 1697,^[7][1] and in golf the position of the ball from 1857.^[5][7] An animal's lair is a lie from 1869.^[7] Lie-in and lie-down, periods of rest, are 20th-century uses.^[7] In Scots and northern English dialect the old form lig survived.^[8][9]

Timeline

• c. 725 – to lie down, rest.^[1]
• 1137 – Middle English lien.^[1]
• c. 1300 – lie with.^[5]
• 1697 – noun, manner of lying.^[7][1]
• 1857 – the lie of a golf ball.^[5][7]
• 1869 – an animal's lair.^[7]
• 1930 – a rest in bed.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To be in or move into a flat, horizontal position; to recline.
2. Of things, to rest on a surface.
3. To be or remain in a stated state: lie hidden.
4. To be situated: the island lies to the east.
5. To consist or be found: the answer lies in education.

Noun

1. The way or position in which something lies: the lie of the land.
2. The lair or hiding place of an animal.
3. (golf) The position of the ball where it has stopped.

Word family

• lie-in
• lie-down
• lie low
• layabout

lie² falsehood

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English lien,^[1][5] inherited from Old English lēogan (“to deceive, belie, betray”),^[5][1] from Proto-Germanic *leuganan,^[5] the source also of Old Frisian liāga, Old Saxon and Old High German liogan (German lügen), Dutch liegen, Old Norse ljúga and Gothic liugan.^[5][1][3] It is of uncertain origin; possible cognates are Old Church Slavonic lŭgati “to lie” and Lithuanian lūgóti “to request”,^[5][1][2] and it is not found in Latin, Greek or Sanskrit.^[5] The noun is inherited from Middle English lie, inherited from Old English lyge (“lie, falsehood”),^[5][1] from Proto-Germanic *lugiz, from the root of the verb,^[5] and is cognate with Old Norse lygi and German Lüge.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb: Old English lēogan, before 725;^[1] the OED's first example of “to tell a lie” is from 971.^[7] The noun, “a false statement made to deceive”, is from about 900.^[7][1]

Semantic evolution

From people the verb was extended about 1220 to things that give a false impression, such as the camera never lies.^[7] To give the lie to, “to accuse to one's face of lying”, is from 1593,^[7] the 1590s in Etymonline,^[5] and later came to mean “to show to be false”.^[6] A white lie, one not meant to harm, is from 1741.^[7] Lie-detector is recorded by 1909,^[5] and the emphatic lie through one's teeth is from the 1940s.^[5] The OED notes that the noun is a strong expression of moral blame, so that falsehood and untruth are often used instead in polite talk.^[5]

Timeline

• before 725 – Old English lēogan.^[1]
• c. 900 – noun, a falsehood.^[7]
• c. 1220 – of things, to give a false impression.^[7]
• 1593 – give the lie.^[7]
• 1741 – white lie.^[7]
• 1909 – lie-detector.^[5]
• 1940s – lie through one's teeth.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A false statement made on purpose to deceive; a falsehood.
2. Something meant to give a false impression.

Verb

1. To make a false statement knowing it to be untrue.
2. To give a false impression: statistics can lie.

Word family

• liar
• lie detector
• white lie
• belie

Related words

• lay
• lier
• ledge
• litter
• lager
• law

Usage notes

The two verbs are conjugated differently: lie “recline” has past lay and past participle lain, while lie “tell a lie” has lied.^[9][4] The recline verb is often confused with lay, “to put down”, its causative.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press