lay

Synonyms

becalm settle down lie by lie with sleep with Formal terms bed coit coitize dight enjoy feague go in unto go to bed with have know love mount occupy penetrate ballad put set place pose position put down repose laic secular

Antonyms

clerical secular

Etymology

Inherited 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 Saterland Frisian lääse (“to lay; to lie”), West Frisian lizze (“to lay, to lie”), Cimbrian leng (“to lay”), Dutch leggen (“to lay”), German legen (“to lay”), Limburgish lègke (“to lay”), Luxembourgish leeën (“to lay”), Yiddish לייגן (leygn, “to lay”), Danish lægge (“to lay”), Faroese, Icelandic leggja (“to lay”), Norwegian Bokmål legge (“to lay”), Norwegian Nynorsk legga, legge, leggja, leggje (“to lay”), Swedish lägga (“to lay”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (lagjan, “to lay”), Old French laier, laiier, laire (“to leave”), Albanian lag (“troop, band, war encampment”).

Inherited from Middle English lay, laye, laie, ley, leye, which may have multiple origins:
* Potentially from *læġ-, an unattested variant stem of Old English lagu m (“sea, flood, water, ocean”), if transferred to a-stem inflection (compare Old English dæġ-, dag- (“day”) > Middle English day, daw-); compare plural Middle English lawes and lauen. If so, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *lagu (“water, sea”), from Proto-Germanic *laguz (“water, sea”), from Proto-Indo-European *lókus (“water, body of water, lake”).
* Alternatively, borrowed from Old French lai, from Latin lacus (“lake, hollow, hole”), also from Proto-Indo-European *lókus.
* Alternatively, borrowed from leg-, a stem of Old Norse lǫgr, from Proto-Germanic *laguz. Compare Icelandic lögur (“liquid, fluid, lake”).
All of these theories make it a doublet of loch, Looe, and lough.

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

Inherited 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 (“to play”). Contrast German Lied and Lied.