# lai
## English

* This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

### Alternative forms

* lay

### Etymology

From Middle English lai, lay, from Old French lai (“song, lyric, poem”), from Old Frankish *laik, *laih (“play, melody, song”), from Proto-Germanic *laikaz, *laikiz (“jump, play, dance, hymn”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“to jump, spring, play”). Akin to Old High German leih (“a play, skit, melody, song”), Middle High German leich (“piece of music, epic song played on a harp”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌺𐍃 (laiks, “a dance”), Old English lācan (“to move quickly, fence, sing”). More at lake.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /laɪ/
* Rhymes: -aɪ
* Homophones: Leigh, lie, lye

### Noun

lai (plural lais)
* (historical) A mostly North European medieval form of lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance, with stanzas that do not repeat.

#### See also

* lai on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* lai lai
* lai see

### Anagrams

* -ial, Ali, IAL, LIA, ail, ali-

## Aromanian
### Alternative forms

* laiu

### Etymology

Uncertain. Compare Romanian lai, Albanian ljaj.

### Adjective

lai
* black
* (figurative) poor, miserable, unfortunate
* (figurative) wicked, bad

#### Synonyms

* (black): negru
* (poor, unfortunate): mãrat, curbusit, stuhinat, scurpisit, buisit, vãpsit
* (wicked, bad): arãu, slab, urut, cãtrãcearcu, afischcu, tihilai, blãstimat

#### Related terms

* lãeatsã
* lãiturã
* lãescu
* lãilji

## Bavarian
### Alternative forms

* lei

### Adverb

lai
* (Austria, Tyrol) only, just

## Bourguignon
### Etymology

From Latin illa.

### Article

lai (masculine le or lou, plural les)
* (feminine nouns) the

## Champenois
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French la, from Latin illa.

### Pronunciation

IPA: /lɛ/

### Article

lai (masculine lou, plural les)
* (feminine nouns) the

### References

* Daunay, Jean (1998) Parlers de Champagne : Pour un classement thématique du vocabulaire des anciens parlers de Champagne (Aube - Marne - Haute-Marne)‎ (in French), Rumilly-lés-Vaudes
* Baudoin, Alphonse (1885) Glossaire de la forêt de Clairvaux‎ (in French), Troyes

## Estonian
### Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *lakja, originally from a Germanic source. Cognate to Finnish laaja, Livonian laiga.

### Adjective

lai (genitive laia, partitive laia, comparative laiem, superlative kõige laiem)
* wide, broad

#### Declension
## French
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /lɛ/

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle French lai, from Old French lai (“song, lyric, poem”), from Frankish *laik, *laih (“play, melody, song”), from Proto-Germanic *laikaz, *laikiz (“jump, play, dance, hymn”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“to jump, spring, play”). Akin to Old High German leih (“a play, skit, melody, song”), Middle High German leich (“piece of music, epic song played on a harp”), Old English lācan (“to move quickly, fence, sing”). More at lake. Alternatively from Celtic; compare Old Irish laíd (“poem”).

#### Noun

lai m (plural lais)
* (historical) a mostly North European medieval form of lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance., with stanzas that do not repeat

### Etymology 2

Inherited from Old French lai, from Latin lāicus. Doublet of laïque.

#### Adjective

lai (feminine laie, masculine plural lais, feminine plural laies)
* (archaic) lay (not clerical)
    Synonym: laïque
* Still used in the terms frère lai, sœur laie, which see.
    Synonym: convers

### Further reading

* “lai”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* ail, lia

## Ido
### Noun

lai
* plural of la

## Istriot
### Noun

lai
* side

### Adverb

lai
* here (this place)
** 1877, Antonio Ive, Canti popolari istriani: raccolti a Rovigno, volume 5, Ermanno Loescher, page 40:Vuoltite biunduleîna inverso lai,Turn around towards this place, little blonde,

## Iu Mien
### Etymology

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *-ʔræi (“vegetable”). Cognate with White Hmong zaub and Western Xiangxi Miao [Fenghuang] reib.

### Noun

lai
* vegetable

## Khasi
### Etymology

From Proto-Khasian *laaj. Compare Pnar le, Lyngngam laj, War-Jaintia lɛ.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /laːj/

### Numeral

lai
* three

### See also

* 'lai

### References

* Singh, U Nissor (1906) Khasi-English dictionary‎, Shillong: Eastern Bengal and Assam Secretariat Press, page 109. Searchable online at SEAlang.net.

## Laboya
### Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *laki. Cognate with Indonesian laki.

### Noun

lai
* husband

### References

* Rina, A. Dj., Kabba, John Lado B. (2011) “lai”, in Kamus Bahasa Lamboya, Kabupaten Sumba Bakat [Dictionary of Lamboya Language, West Sumba Regency], Waikabubak: Dinas Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata, Kabupaten Sumba Bakat, page 58
* Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*laki”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

## Latvian
### Etymology

Traditionally, lai is derived from the imperative form of the verb laist (“to allow, to permit”) (quod vide): laid → lai, an evolution reminiscent of Russian пускай (puskaj), пусть (pustʹ, “let, so be”) from пускать (puskatʹ, “to allow, to permit”). The form laid is indeed attested as a conjunction in the earliest sources. This view, however, has been recently criticized on the basis that Latvian lai, Lithuanian laĩ are clearly related to Old Prussian -lai, which is added to (usually infinitive) verbs to indicate volitive or conditional mood. This suggests a Proto-Baltic form *lai, probably related to the final -le of Latvian reinforcing particles jele ~ jel, nule, and (dialectal) nele, and to Old Prussian -le, apparently a variant of -lai. This *le would then have the same origin as Proto-Slavic *li (compare Polish li (“only”) Russian ли (li)), with cognates in other languages (Albanian, Tocharian) from a basic Proto-Indo-European *l-. After this criticism, the relationship between lai and laist has become unclear. Maybe Proto-Indo-European *l- was an old verb, or maybe laist was derived from an older particle.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [laî]
* Audio:(file)

### Conjunction

lai
* with the conditional, indicating purpose, sometimes cause; sometimes correlating with tāpēc, tādēļ in the main clause; so that, in order to, in order that
    lai varētu labāk pārredzēt apkārtni, bija jāuzkāpj tornīin order to be able to see the surroundings better, it was necessary to climb the tower
    kad viņa, laimīgi smiedamās, pacēla savu glāzi, lai saskandinātu ar viesiem, es noraudzījos ar klusu skaudībuwhen she, laughing happily, lifted her glass, in order to clink glasses with the visitors, I watched with quiet envy
    gājējiem jāraugās, lai dēļa vaļējais gals neiesistu pa pierithe passers-by must be careful, so that the free end of the log does not hit them on the forehead
    apģērbam un apaviem jābūt ērtiem, lai tie netraucētu kustībasclothes and shoes must be comfortable, so that they don't disturb (one's) movement
    kafiju nedrīkst vārīt, lai tā nezaudētu aromātucoffee should not be boiled, so that it doesn't lose its aroma
    es mācos tikai tāpēc, lai labāk noderētu lielajā cīņāI learn only so that I can serve better in the great fight
    studēt es gribu tikai tādēļ, lai pati vairāk zinātu un lai iegūtās zināšanas varētu atdot citiemI want to study only so that I will know more and so that the knowledge gained can be given to others
* indicating concession, especially in the combinations lai gan, lai arī; though, although, even though
    lai cīņas būs grūtas, mēs uzvarēsimthough the fight will be difficult, we will win
    un, lai ļaudis sacījuši ko sacīdami, jaunā sieva katru sliktu vārdu atvairījusiand, although the people said what(ever) they wanted, the young wife deflected every bad word
    pēc teātra Vilis Virpuls palika uz deju, lai gan nekad nedejojaafter the theater Vilis Virpuls stayed at the dance, even though he never danced
    viņš atbrauca ātri, lai gan ceļš bija sliktshe came quickly, although the road was bad
    lai arī dārzs ir mazliet nolaists, tas tomēr ir skaistsalthough the garden is a little neglected, it still is beautiful
* indicating strong concession, in combination with arī, nu, vai and with interrogative pronouns like cik, kāds, kurš, kas, kur; no matter how, which, who, what, where; however, wherever, whichever, whoever, whatever, wherever
    viņa bija viņam iedvesusi ticību, ka viņš skatīs sauli, lai arī cik grūti būtu pašreizshe had inspired in him the belief that he would look at the sun, no matter how difficult this would be now
    mēs visi būsim kopā, lai kā mums kuram ieswe will all be together, no matter how it goes for us
    lai vai kā, es tomēr runāšuno matter how (= whatever happens), I will still speak
    lai kur kāds runā, viņš tūdaļ pretī ar savuwherever someone speaks, he immediately (goes) against him with his (words, opinions)
    lai nu tālu, tomēr kādos svētkos raudzīšu attikthowever far (it may be), I will still try to be at the celebration
* after certain verbs, introducing a direct object clause; that, for ... to, to
    zīlītes vairs negaidīja, lai Ilzīte viņas barothe titmice no longer waited for Ilzīte to feed them
    nē, viņa lūdza, lai es apturu mašīnuno, she asked that I stop the car
    vai nevajadzētu paziņot, lai atbrauc viņa piederīgie?couldn't (you) have informed (us) that his people would come back?
    bērnu stomatoloģiskajā poliklīnikā galvenokārt rūpējas par to, lai zobi tiktu savlaicīgi salabotiin the children's dental clinic, one cares primarily that the (children's) teeth will be repaired in time
* indicating manner and/or purpose, usually correlating with an adverb like tā (“like that”) in the main clause; so that, such that, in such a way that
    runā, lai var ko saprastspeak so that (= in such a way that) one can understand something
    lampu novietu tā, lai gaisma krīt no augšas un kreisās pusesthe lamp (is) placed in such a way that the light falls from the top and (from) the left side
    tu centies to pateikt saudzīgi, tā, lai mani nesāpinātuyou try to say it gently, in such a way that it won't hurt me
* indicating consequence, especially with tik (“so (much)”), pārāk (“too much”) and an adjective or participle in the main clause; so that, so ... that, too (much) ... for, to, that
    pie debesīm stāvēja pusmēness, izplatīdams pietiekošu krēslu, lai celiņu uz riju varētu redzēton the sky (there) was a half moon, spreading enough light (lit. dawn), so that one could see the little path to the barn
    aitas bijušas tik vājas, lai vējš apgāztuthe sheep were so weak that the wind (would) turn them over
    zemnieki bija pārāk iebaidīti, lai nakts laikā rādītos ārpus mājāmthe peasants were too intimidated to show themselves outside during the night
    nebija vēl noadīti tik biezi cimdi, lai tagad, laukā braucot, nesaltu rokas(one) had not yet knit such thick gloves that, going out now, (one's) hands wouldn't freeze

### Particle

lai
* used to express an optative (wish) nuance: may, may it be that
    lai dabas spēkus gudrs cilvēks veic ― may the wise person lead the forces of nature
    lai visas dienas labus vārdus teic ― may all days bring (lit. say) good words
    lai viss sils izdegtu! ― may the whole (pine) forest burn!
    lai dzīvo! ― (long) may he live! hooray!
    tie ir trakāki par baroniem... velns lai viņus parauj!those (people) are crazier than the barons... may the devil take them!
* used to express encouragement, agreement: let
    ja tu, Zane, nevari, lai paliek šovakar govis neslauktas ― if you, Zane, can't (do it), let the cows remain unmilked tonight
    draugi mani atkal uzaicināja medībās: “labi”, es teicu, “lai notiek; bet pēdējo reizi!”friends invited me again to hunt: “OK,” I said, “let it happen (= I'll go); but (for) the last time!”
* used to mark third person imperative forms of verbs; sometimes used with the first person also: let
    “lai taču viņš iet”, Aina saka; “lai viņš iet, es arī neturēšu viņu, lai iet, lai iet”“but let him go,” Aina said, “let him go, I also won't keep him, let (him) go, let (him) go”
    lai vēlam putnam laimīgu lidojumu! ― let us wish the bird a happy flight!
* used to give a nuance of indecision or doubt, especially in a question should, could
    ko lai viņam saku, kādu padomu lai dodu? ― what should I say to him, what advice should I give?
    man vajadzīgs padoms; es nezinu, pie kā cita lai griežosI need advice; I don't know who else I could turn to (but you)
    es prasu zemei, kur meklēt lai eju ― I ask the earth, where should I go to look for (it)?
* (colloquial) used to add strength to a word or expression, to link it more tightly to the rest of the sentence
    Soklēns gribēja savus viesus uzjautrināt ar pajāšanos; segli lai bija iegādātiSoklēns wanted to cheer his guests up with some (horse) riding; the saddles were even ready (already)
    vasarā, kad būs āboli, vai tad nāksi ciemos? ar medu lai pacienāšu, jā?during the summer, when there will be apples, maybe then you will come visit? and I will also treat you with honey, yes?
* used to reinforce a word, highlighting it among others
    tūliņ svied tās meijas nost un meklē rīksti rokā! vai lopi līdz vakaram lai kūtī stāv?throw those boughs away right now and go get your rod! are the animals really going to stay in the barn till night?
* used, sometimes with nu or ir, to indicate tolerance of, or agreement with, someone else
    protams, mājās būs vēl nepatīkamāka saruna, to es zinu pavisam skaidri, bet lai!of course, at home there will still be an unpleasant talk, I know that very well, and how (= boy do I)!
    “lai nu, lai nu, Birkenbaum,” Grīntāls mierināja ― “OK, OK, Birkenbaum,” Grīntāls comforted (him)
    “esi gan tu muļķa meitene”, Karlīne zobojās; “a, lai ir!” Annele spītīgi atcirta“you are indeed a stupid girl,” Karlīne mocked; “ah, so be it!” Annele snapped angrily back
    lai jau būtu ― let it be, so be it

### References

* ↑ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “lai”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca‎ (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN

## Maia
### Noun

lai
* beach

## Malay
### Etymology

Borrowed from Hokkien 梨 (lâi, “pear”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈlaj/ [ˈlai̯]
* Rhymes: -ai̯

### Noun

lai (Jawi spelling لاي, plural lai-lai, informal 1st possessive laiku, 2nd possessive laimu, 3rd possessive lainya)
* pear

### Further reading

* “lai” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

## Mandarin
### Romanization

lai
* Nonstandard spelling of lái.
* Nonstandard spelling of lǎi.
* Nonstandard spelling of lài.

#### Usage notes

* Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

## Maroon Spirit Language
### Etymology

From English lie.

### Noun

lai (plural lais)
* lie (intentionally false statement)
** 1983, Kenneth M. Bilby, “How the "older heads" talk: a Jamaican Maroon spirit possession language and its relationship to the creoles of Suriname and Sierra Leone”, in New West Indian Guide, →ISSN, page 72:if im a tel lais, wen im bin bak wi de go go na in sikin.If he is telling lies, when he comes back we will go to his body.

## Old French
### Etymology 1

From Latin lacus.

#### Noun

lai oblique singular, m (oblique plural lais, nominative singular lais, nominative plural lai)
* pond, lake
* trench, ditch
* grave

### Etymology 2

Origin uncertain. Cognate with Occitan lais. Usually conjectured to be either of Germanic or Celtic origin. If from the former, probably from Frankish *laik (“game, sport, song, music”), related to Old High German leich (“song, melody, music”); if the latter, akin to Old Irish loíd, from Proto-Celtic *loydā, from Proto-Indo-European *leyd- (“to let, let go”), however the Oxford English dictionary calls a Celtic origin "out of the question".

#### Noun

lai oblique singular, m (oblique plural lais, nominative singular lais, nominative plural lai)
* lai (Medieval text)

### Etymology 3

From Vulgar Latin *laitus, from Frankish *laiþ (“hateful”).

#### Adjective

lai m (oblique and nominative feminine singular laie)
* ugly

##### Descendants

* French: laid

### References

* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “lay”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

## Old Irish
### Noun

lai
* Alternative spelling of laí

## Pnar
### Etymology

From Proto-Khasian *la:j ~ *la:c. The expected reflex is *le. Cognate with Khasi leit.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /laj/

### Verb

lai
* to go

## Romanian
### Alternative forms

* lău

### Etymology

Uncertain. Several explanations exist. One derives it from Albanian ljaj, itself possibly from Latin flavus, but this is uncertain, and it may be that the Albanian is derived from Proto-Romanian (or Aromanian- compare the cognate laiu, lae in this language). Other theories suggest a Romanian root *gălai, from Latin galla or alternatively an etymology from labes (“fault, defect”), extending the meaning to "spot" and hence, "black" or "dark", but as it is a secondary meaning in Latin, this is not very likely. A more likely explanation may be a relation to the verb la (“to wash”), as lai is used mostly to describe the natural color of wool resulting from washing (compare the similar secondary senses of Spanish crudo, French écru).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /laj/

### Adjective

lai m or n (feminine singular laie, plural lăi)
* (popular) black (or black mixed with white), gray
    Synonyms: negru, brumăriu

#### Declension
### References

* ↑ lai in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

## Romansch
### Etymology 1

From Latin lacus, from Proto-Italic *lakus, from Proto-Indo-European *lókus (“lake, pool”).

#### Noun

lai m (plural lais)
* lake

##### Alternative forms

* lag (Sursilvan, Sutsilvan)
* laitg (Sutsilvan)
* lej (Puter)

### Etymology 2

From Latin lectus.

#### Noun

lai f (plural lais)
* (Vallader) marriage, matrimony

##### Alternative forms

* lètg (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran)
* alach (Puter)
* letg (Sutsilvan)

## Vietnamese
### Pronunciation

* (Hà Nội) IPA: [laːj˧˧]
* (Huế) IPA: [laːj˧˧]
* (Saigon) IPA: [laːj˧˧]

### Etymology 1

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 騾 (“mule”, SV: la, loa).

#### Verb

lai
* Short for lai giống (“to crossbreed”).

#### Adjective

lai
* of mixed blood; crossbred
    con lai ― crossbred offspring/Amerasian/Eurasian/mestizo

#### Derived terms

* lai căng
* lai tạp

### Etymology 2
#### Noun

lai
* (Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) hemline; turn-up

### Etymology 3

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 釐 (“a weight unit”, SV: li).

#### Noun

lai
* (Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) hundredth part of a tael (equal to 0.378 g)

### Etymology 4
#### Verb

lai
* (Central Vietnam) to carry (someone) on one's bicycle or motorbike pillion; to give someone a lift on the bicycle or motorbike
* to tow

### Etymology 5
#### Noun

(classifier cây) lai
* candlenut; candleberry (Aleurites moluccanus)

### Anagrams

* lia

## Welsh
### Adjective

lai
* Soft mutation of llai (“smaller”).

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

## Zhuang
### Etymology

From Proto-Tai *ʰlaːjᴬ (“many; much”), from Old Chinese 多 (OC *[t.l]ˤaj) (B-S). Cognate with Thai หลาย (lǎai), Northern Thai ᩉ᩠ᩃᩣ᩠ᨿ, Lao ຫຼາຍ (lāi), Lü ᦜᦻ (l̇aay), Khün ᩉ᩠ᩃᩣ᩠ᨿ, Shan လၢႆ (lǎai), Bouyei laail, Saek หล่าย. Compare Jizhao laːi²¹.

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Zhuang) IPA: /laːi˨˦/
* Tone numbers: lai$^1$
* Hyphenation: lai

### Adjective

lai (Sawndip forms 𫯓 or 來 or 𡥧 or 𡃤, 1957–1982 spelling lai)
* many, much, a lot
    Antonym: noix

#### Derived terms

* geijlai
* haujlai

### Adverb

lai (Sawndip forms 𫯓 or 來 or 𡥧 or 𡃤, 1957–1982 spelling lai)
* more
* comparatively; more
* too; exceedingly; very