# lay

> English word · Verb · IPA /leɪ/ · frequency rank #2,302

## Definitions
1. To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.
2. To cause to subside or abate.
3. To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).
4. To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.
5. To produce and deposit (an egg or eggs).
6. To bet (that something is or is not the case).
7. To deposit (a stake) as a wager; to stake; to risk.
8. To have sex with.
9. To state; to allege.
10. To point; to aim.
11. To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them.
12. To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.
13. To place (new type) properly in the cases.
14. To apply; to put.
15. To impose (a burden, punishment, command, tax, etc.).
16. To impute; to charge; to allege.
17. To present or offer.
18. To produce and deposit an egg or eggs.
19. To subside or abate.
20. To take a position; to come or go.
21. To lie: to rest in a horizontal position on a surface.

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **le** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-le)
- **li** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-li)
- **Lt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lt)
- **lo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lo)
- **lb** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lb)
- **LP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lp)
- **LN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-ln)
- **Ls** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-ls)
- **lg** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lg)
- **lu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lu)
- **LC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lc)
- **LF** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lf)
- **LV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lv)
- **LR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lr)
- **LM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lm)
- **LJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lj)
- **lx** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lx)
- **LZ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lz)
- **lot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-lot)
- **let** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lay-vs-let)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/lay