Etymograph

English

lie

Lie comes from Middle English lien ‘to lie’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*legʰ-1‘to lie’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ligjaną1‘to lie’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*liggjan1‘to lie’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150liċġan1‘to lie’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lien1‘to lie’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1607–1608lie1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English lie
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1607–1608, William Shakespeare, The Late: “The Wind is lowd, and will not lie till…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*legʰ-Wiktionary, English lie‘to lie’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ligjanąWiktionary, English lie‘to lie’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*liggjanWiktionary, English lie‘to lie’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150liċġanWiktionary, English lie‘to lie’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lienWiktionary, English lie‘to lie’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1607–1608lieWiktionary, English lie. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1607–1608, William Shakespeare, The Late: “The Wind is lowd, and will not lie till…”

Word family

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

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

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

41 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of lie

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewgʰ-‘to announce, tell publicly’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*leuganą‘to lie’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*leugan‘to lie, tell a falsehood’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150lēogan‘to lie’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lien‘to lie, tell a falsehood’
  6. Englishtodaylie

Another origin of lie

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewgʰ-‘to announce, tell publicly’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lugizreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lugireconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150lyġe
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lie
  6. Englishtodaylie

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Today it means

verb To rest in a horizontal position on a surface.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lie”. 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- / lie