Lay

Verb

 * 1)  To place down in a position of rest.
 * 2) * 1735, author unknown, The New-England Primer, as reported by Fred R. Shapiro in The Yale Book of Quotations (2006), Yale University Press, pages 549–550:
 * Now I lay me down to sleep, / I pray the Lord my Soul to keep. / If I should die before I ’wake, / I pray the Lord my Soul to take.
 * 1)  To cause to subside or abate.
 * 2) * 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.viii:
 * The cloudes, as things affrayd, before him flye; / But all so soone as his outrageous powre / Is layd, they fiercely then begin to shoure [...].
 * 1) * 1662, Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems, Dialogue 2:
 * But how upon the winds being laid, doth the ship cease to move?
 * 1)  To leave something somewhere.
 * 2)  To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).
 * 3) * 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador 2007, p. 48:
 * Even when I lay a long plan, it is never in the expectation that I will live to see it fulfilled.
 * 1)  To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.
 * lay brick
 * lay flooring
 * 1)  To produce and deposit an egg.
 * 2)  To wager that an event will not take place.
 * 3)  To have sex with.

Antonyms

 * back

Derived terms

 * lay a finger on
 * lay a foundation
 * lay an egg
 * lay about
 * lay away
 * lay bare
 * lay-by/lay by
 * lay claim
 * lay down
 * lay hands on
 * lay-in


 * lay into
 * lay low
 * layoff
 * lay on the line
 * lay on the table
 * lay out
 * lay siege
 * lay the groundwork
 * lay to rest
 * lay up
 * lay waste
 * get laid

Noun

 * 1) Arrangement or relationship; layout.
 * the lay of the land (rather than the standard the lie of the land)
 * 1) The direction a rope is twisted.
 * Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.
 * 1) A casual sexual partner.
 * What was I, just another lay you can toss aside as you go on to your next conquest?

Synonyms

 * See WikiSaurus:promiscuous woman

Adjective

 * 1) Non-professional; not being a member of an organized institution.
 * 2) Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them.
 * They seemed more lay than clerical.
 * They seemed more lay than clerical.

Related terms

 * laity
 * layman
 * layperson
 * lay person
 * laywoman

Verb
lay


 * 1)  when pertaining to position.
 * The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.
 * 1)  To be in a horizontal position; to lie.
 * 2) * 1969 July, Bob Dylan, “Lay Lady Lay”, Nashville Skyline, Columbia:
 * Lay, lady, lay. / Lay across my big brass bed.
 * 1) * a. 1970, Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, Bridge over Troubled Water, Columbia Records:
 * Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters / Where the ragged people go
 * 1) * 1974, John Denver, “Annie’s Song”, Back Home Again, RCA:
 * Let me lay down beside you. / Let me always be with you.

Derived terms

 * layabout

Noun

 * 1) A ballad or sung poem; a short poem or narrative, usually intended to be sung.
 * 1805 The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Sir Walter Scott.

Derived terms

 * layoff

Thesaurus
Brautlied, Christmas carol, Kunstlied, Liebeslied, Volkslied, abate, accredit, address, advance, aim, air, alba, align, allay, allege, alleviate, anesthetize, ante, ante up, anthem, appease, aria, art song, aspect, assign, assuage, attemper, attitude, attribute, aubade, azimuth, back, ball, ballad, ballade, ballata, bank the fire, barcarole, be intimate, bearing, bearings, bent, benumb, bet, bet on, blues, blues song, blunt, board, boat song, boom, bridal hymn, brindisi, burden with, call, calm, calypso, canso, canticle, canto, cantus, canzone, canzonet, canzonetta, carol, cast, cast loose, cast out devils, cavatina, celestial navigation, chanson, chant, chantey, charge, chasten, cite, civil, clap on ratlines, clear hawse, cohabit, come together, commit adultery, conciliate, congregational, constrain, control, cool, copulate, couple, course, cover, crawl, credit, croon, croon song, current, cushion, cut loose, dab, damp, dampen, de-emphasize, dead reckoning, deaden, deaden the pain, defuse, demand, deposit, descant, diapason, diddle, diminish, direction, direction line, dirge, ditty, downplay, drag, dress, drift, drinking song, drop, dub, dulcify, dull, ease, ease matters, enjoin, epithalamium, equalize, establish, even, exact, exorcise, exposure, extenuate, fade, fasten upon, fell, fix, flatten, flush, folk song, foment, fornicate, freight with, frig, frontage, gamble, game, give relief, grade, grease, grovel, harrow, haul, haul down, have sex, have sexual relations, hazard, heading, heave, heave apeak, heave round, heave short, helmsmanship, hymeneal, hymn, impose, impose on, impose upon, impute, inclination, incline, inflict on, inflict upon, kedge, keep within bounds, laic, laical, lay a wager, lay aloft, lay down, lay flat, lay ghosts, lay level, lay low, lay on, lay out, lay the dust, lenify, lessen, level, levy, lie, lie down, lie flat, lie limply, lie prone, lie prostrate, lie with, lied, lighten, lilt, line, line of direction, line of march, line of position, lodge, log, loll, lounge, love song, love-lilt, lubricate, lull, make a bet, make it with, make love, make out, mate, matin, measure, meet a bet, melodia, melodic line, melody, minstrel song, minstrelsy, mitigate, moderate, modulate, mollify, mount, mow, national anthem, navigation, nonclerical, nonecclesiastical, nonministerial, nonordained, nonpastoral, nonreligious, note, numb, obtund, offer, oil, orientation, pacify, pad, palliate, park, parlay, pass, pilotage, piloting, placate, place, plane, planish, plaster, play, play against, play down, plunge, point, pose, posit, position, position line, post, poultice, pour balm into, pour balm on, pour oil on, present, propitiate, prothalamium, punt, put, put down, put on, put upon, quarter, radio bearing, range, rase, ratline down, raze, recline, reduce, reduce the temperature, refer, refrain, relieve, repose, reposit, rest, restrain, roll, roll flat, run, saddle with, salve, screw, seat, secular, secularist, secularistic, see, serena, serenade, serenata, serve, service, set, set down, settle, shave, slacken, slake, sleep with, slow down, smooth, smooth down, smooth out, smooth over, smoothen, smother, sober, sober down, soften, solo, solo part, song, soothe, soprano part, spar down, spawn, sprawl, spread, stake, stand pat, station, steamroll, steamroller, steerage, steering, stick, stifle, strain, stream the log, stupe, subdue, subject to, submit, suppress, tame, task, tax, temper, temporal, tendency, tenor, theme song, tone down, torch song, track, train, tranquilize, traverse a yard, treble, trend, tune, tune down, turn, underplay, unlash, unsacred, unspell, wager, war song, warble, warp, way, weaken, wedding song, weight down with, yoke with

Etymology 1
lecgan:, from Germanic. A causative form of lie:. Cognate with leggen:, German legen, Swedish lägga.

Etymology 2
From the verb.

Etymology 3
From lai:

Etymology 4

 * See lie

Etymology 5
from lai:, of  origin, from  *undefined: from  from. Akin to leih:,  leich:,  lacan:.

Verb

 * Arabic:
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:, , 放置
 * Danish:
 * Dutch:
 * Finnish: laskea;, ,
 * French:
 * German:
 * Indonesian: meletakkan, menempatkan
 * Italian: ,
 * Japanese: 置く (おく, oku), 産む (うむ)


 * Lojban: punji
 * Old English:
 * Romanian: culca
 * Russian: ,
 * Slovene:
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish:
 * Turkish: yatırmak
 * !Xóõ:
 * Yiddish: לײגן


 * Finnish: laannuttaa


 * Finnish: jättää


 * Italian: lasciare


 * Finnish: valmistaa, laskea , kattaa
 * Italian:


 * Slovene:
 * Spanish:


 * Finnish: tehdä ; muurata, laatoittaa
 * Italian:
 * Slovene:


 * Spanish:
 * Turkish: döşemek


 * Dutch:
 * Finnish:
 * French:
 * Italian:
 * Latvian: dēt


 * Lojban: se jbena, seljbe
 * Russian: отложить
 * Spanish:
 * Turkish: yumurtlamak


 * Finnish: maata
 * German: flachlegen


 * Spanish:, ,
 * Swedish:

Noun

 * Dutch: ligging

Adjective

 * Czech:
 * Dutch: leken-
 * Finnish:
 * German: Laien-


 * Italian: ,
 * Portuguese:
 * Swedish: lek-


 * Dutch: leken-, wereldlijk
 * Finnish:
 * German: Laien-, laikal
 * Italian: ,


 * Old English:
 * Russian: мирской, светский
 * Swedish: lek-


 * : laika
 * : laikus

Anagrams

 * Aly

Noun

 * 1) sail

Etymology
Common Malayo-Polynesian, compare Indonesian layar