Etymograph

English

lay

Lay comes from Middle English leyen, from Old English leċġan ‘to lay’, from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną ‘to lay’, a causative ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- ‘to lie’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*legʰ-1‘to lie’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*logʰéyeti1‘to lay, make lie’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lagjaną1‘to lay’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laggjan1‘to lay’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150leċġan1‘to lay’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500leyen1‘to lay’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590lay1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English lay
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene: “The cloudes, as things affrayd, before him flye; /…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*legʰ-Wiktionary, English lay‘to lie’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*logʰéyetiWiktionary, English lay‘to lay, make lie’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lagjanąWiktionary, English lay‘to lay’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laggjanWiktionary, English lay‘to lay’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150leċġanWiktionary, English lay‘to lay’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500leyenWiktionary, English lay‘to lay’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590layWiktionary, English lay. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene: “The cloudes, as things affrayd, before him flye; /…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with lay, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- ‘to lie, recline’

  • college ← collēgium ← collēga ← lēgō ← lēx
  • legal ← lēgālis ← lex ← *lēks ← *lḗgʰs
  • law ← lawe ← lagu ← lǫg ← lag
  • fellow ← felawe ← fēolaga ← félagi ← félag
  • legacy ← legacie ← legacie ← lēgātum ← lēgō
  • lawyer ← lawiere ← lawe ← lagu ← *lagu
  • loyal ← loial ← lēgālis ← lex ← *lēks
  • colleague ← collegue ← collēga ← lēgō ← lēx
  • delegation ← delegatio ← dēlēgō ← lēgō ← lēx
  • litter ← lectus
  • delegate ← delegat ← delegat ← dēlēgātus ← nominative
  • layer ← leyer

42 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of lay

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lay
  2. Englishtodaylay

All of these theories make it a doublet of loch, Looe, and lough.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.

Another origin of lay

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₂w-‘military action’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₂wos‘people (under arms)’uncertain
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lāwós‘people, crowd’uncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλᾱός‘people’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλαϊκόςlaïkós‘common’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElāicus
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400lai
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lay‘Lay, non-clerical. Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them’
  9. Englishtodaylay

Another origin of lay

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyg-‘to jump, spring, play’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laikaz‘dance’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*laih‘play, melody, song’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400lai‘song, lyric, poem’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lay‘Lay, non-clerical. Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them’
  6. Englishtodaylay

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Today it means

verb To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lay”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- / lay