Etymograph

English

lay

Lay comes from Middle English leyen, from Old English leċġan ‘to lay’, from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną ‘to lay’, a causative ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- ‘to lie’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*legʰ-‘to lie’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*logʰéyeti‘to lay, make lie’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lagjaną‘to lay’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laggjan‘to lay’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150leċġan‘to lay’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500leyen‘to lay’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590lay

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*legʰ-‘to lie’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*logʰéyeti‘to lay, make lie’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lagjaną‘to lay’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laggjan‘to lay’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150leċġan‘to lay’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500leyen‘to lay’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590lay

Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene: “The cloudes, as things affrayd, before him flye; /…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- ‘to lie, recline’

college, legal, law, fellow, legacy, lawyer, loyal, colleague, delegation, litter, delegate, layer, lex, ledger, collegiate, ledge, lees, lawless, lair, legate, leaguer, lig, leal, collegium, lias, lagan, 22 more

through Proto-Germanic *ligjaną ‘to lie, recline’

low, lie, log, 1 more

through Old English leċġan ‘to lay’

underlay, 1 more

Another origin of lay

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lay
  2. Englishtodaysame form

All of these theories make it a doublet of loch, Looe, and lough.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.

Another origin of lay

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₂w-‘military action’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₂wos‘people (under arms)’uncertain
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lāwós‘people, crowd’uncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλᾱός‘people’
  5. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEλαϊκόςlaïkós‘common’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElāicus
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400lai
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lay‘Lay, non-clerical. Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them’
  9. Englishtodaysame form

Another origin of lay

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyg-‘to jump, spring, play’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laikaz‘dance’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*laih‘play, melody, song’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400lai‘song, lyric, poem’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lay‘Lay, non-clerical. Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them’
  6. Englishtodaysame form

Today it means

verb To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- / lay

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