laye

verb

"laye" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“laye” is uncommon English (frequency #95,063 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#95,063
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Obsolete spelling of lay.

Corpus desk

Index EN-laye · laye · English

laye · rank #95,063 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #95,063
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH lassi

Nearest frequency peer: lassi (-2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “laye”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “laye” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for laye
PropertyValue
Headwordlaye
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters4
Frequency rank#95,063
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “laye” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).layefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “lassi” (#95,061), “Laski” (#95,060), “leatherette” (#95,066). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “laye” is #95,063. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

laye is uncommon English at frequency #95,063 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Obsolete spelling of lay.".

laye doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is laye, spelled L-A-Y-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Obsolete spelling of lay.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how laye appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Ye must first remember to laye the ground, that I tould you before: which is, that it is no power inherent in the circles, or in the holines of the names of God blasphemouslie vsed: nor in whatsoeuer rites or ceremonies at that time vsed, that either can raise any infernall spirit, or yet limitat him perforce within or without these circles.
  2. He was a wight of grisly fronte, And muckle berd ther was upon 't, His lockes farre down did laye: Ful wel he setten on his hors, Thatte fony felaws called Mors, For len it was and grai.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "laye"?
"laye" is spelled L-A-Y-E.
What does "laye" mean?
As a verb, "laye" means: Obsolete spelling of lay.
What language does "laye" come from?
"laye" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "laye", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list