Etymology
1. O.E.
lecgan "to place on the ground (or other surface)," also "put down (often by striking)," from P.Gmc.
*lagjanan (cf. O.S.
leggian, O.N.
leggja, O.Fris.
ledza, M.Du.
legghan, Du.
leggen, O.H.G.
lecken, Ger.
legen, Goth.
lagjan "to lay, put, place"), causative of lie (2). Meaning "way in which something is laid" (
lay of the land) first recorded 1819. Meaning "have sex with" first recorded 1934, in U.S. slang, from sense of "deposit" (which was in O.E., as in
lay an egg, lay a bet, etc.), perhaps reinforced by
to lie with, a frequent phrase in the Bible. The noun meaning "woman available for sexual intercourse" is attested from 1930, but there are suggestions of it in stage puns from as far back as 1767.
Lay off "dismiss" (an employee) is from 1868; meaning "stop disturbing" is from 1908. To
lay for (someone) "await a chance at revenge" is from 1494;
lay low "stay inconspicuous" is from 1839. To
lay (someone) low preserves the secondary O.E. sense.
Layabout "habitual loafer" is attested from 1932.
Layup, the basketball shot, is attested from 1948.
2. 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”).
3. 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”). See: Middle English '
leyen', Middle English '
leyen', Proto-Germanic '
*lagjaną', Proto-Germanic '
*ligjaną', Frisian, Saterlandic 'lääse', Dutch '
leggen', German, old spelling '
legen', Luxembourgish '
leeën', Danish '
lægge', Icelandic '
leggja', Norwegian '
legge', Norwegian, nynorsk '
legga', Swedish '
lägga', Old French '
laier', Albanian '
lag'.
Verbs referencing "lay"
German, old spelling
legen, German, Pennsylvania
lege, Norwegian
legge, Norwegian, nynorsk
leggja, Low Saxon leggen, Scots Gaelic
laigh, Danish
lægge, Luxembourgish
leeën, Old French
laiier, Russian
ложить, Old Irish
dolugai, Proto-Slavic
ložiti.