English
layer
Layer apparently comes from Middle English leyer (lay + -er), though some argue it is a respelling of an obsolete sense of lair.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500leyer‘a layer of stones’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2001layer
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500leyer‘a layer of stones’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2001layer
Earliest quotation: 2001, C/C++ Users Journal: “Right above the database access layer sits a number…”
Formed from lay + -er
Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- ‘to lie’
…
Proto-Germanic *lagjaną ‘to lay’
Proto-West Germanic *laggjan ‘to lay’
Old English leċġan ‘to lay’
Middle English leyen ‘to lay’
English lay
The story
Appears at first glance to be from Middle English leyer, leyare (‘a layer of stones or bricks’), equivalent to lay + -er. For the pronunciation compare prayer. However, this word layer (referring to a thickness of a material covering a surface) has also been argued to be from a respelling of an obsolete sense of the word lair that was once used by farmers, which had to do with soil. The connecting sense between the usual meaning of lair and the specialised farming meaning was: an area where cows typically rest, the ground being fertilised by their waste.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- ‘to lie’
low, college, legal, law, lie, fellow, legacy, log, loyal, colleague, delegation, lawyer, lay, delegate, lex, litter, collegiate, ledge, lawless, lees, lair, legate, lig, leal, collegium, leaguer, lias, lagan, underlay, 23 more
Today it means
noun A single thickness of some material covering a surface.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English leyer / layer