layer
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /lɛə/
note: less often
ipa: /ˈleɪ.ə/
ipa: /ˈleɪ.ɚ/
note: less often
ipa: /lɛɚ/
rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
rhymes: -eɪə(ɹ)
homophone: lair (monosyllabic form)
Forms: form: layers
Etymology: Appears at first glance to be from Middle English leyer, leyare (“a layer of stones or bricks”), equivalent to lay + -er. In which case, ultimately identical to etymology 2 below. For the pronunciation compare prayer.
However, this word layer (referring to a thickness of a material covering a surface) has also been argued to be from a respelling of an obsolete sense of the word lair that was once used by farmers, which had to do with soil. The connecting sense between the usual meaning of lair and the specialised farming meaning was: an area where cows typically rest, the ground being fertilised by their waste. Related to lie, ledger.
Senses: examples: text: Wrap the loaf in two layers of aluminum foil before putting it in the oven.
text: After the first coat of paint dried, he applied another layer.
glosses: A single thickness of some material covering a surface.
examples: text: It's cold now but it will warm up this afternoon. Make sure you wear layers.
glosses: A single thickness of some material covering a surface.
An item of clothing worn under or over another.
examples: text: I find seven-layer cake a bit too rich.
text: Sometimes, the underlying layers are exposed by erosion, revealing the story of the rocks like an open book.
ref: 2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition:
glosses: A (usually) horizontal deposit; a stratum.
examples: text: mired in layers of deceit
text: Right above the database access layer sits a number cruncher that performs any calculations that a particular request may require, such as computing a standard deviation. In many cases, this layer just forwards raw numbers.
ref: 2001, C/C++ Users Journal, volume 19, page 38:
glosses: One of the items in a hierarchy.
topics: computer-graphics
computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
qualifier: by analogy to a stack of transparencies
glosses: One in a stack of (initially transparent) drawing surfaces that comprise an image; used to keep elements of an image separate so that they can be modified independently from one another.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
networking
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: One of the seven network switch pieces in the Open Systems Interconnection model: application, presentation, session, transport, network, data link, and physical.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: An alternative keymap accessed through a modifier key or toggle.
Synonyms: sense: single thickness
word: lay
sense: stratum
word: stratum
Derived terms: abscission layer
absciss layer
adlayer
basal layer
baselayer
bilayer
biolayer
boundary layer
creamy layer
Crookes layer
deep scattering layer
delayer
D layer
Dua's layer
epilayer
epitaxial layer
F layer
germ layer
graphene layer
gyrolayer
Heaviside layer
hemilayer
heterolayer
hidden layer
interlayer
intralayer
Kennelly-Heaviside layer
Knudsen layer
layer 2 tunnelling protocol
layer 8
layerable
layerage
layer cake
layer-cake
layer-cake federalism
layer cake federalism
layerize
layer two tunnelling protocol
layer up
layerwise
Lazarus layer
Malpighian layer
marzipan layer
mesolayer
metalayer
microlayer
monolayer
multilayer
nanolayer
orchestration layer
OSI layer
OSI layer 8
overlayer
ozone layer
pentalayer
pipe-layer
plexiform layer
pre-salt layer
Purkinje layer
relayer
seismogenic layer
semantic layer
seven-layer cake
seven-layer dip
seven-layer salad
stonelayer
sublayer
superlayer
surface boundary layer
surface layer
tetralayer
thickening layer
thin-layer chromatography
thin layer chromatography
transition layer
tribolayer
trilayer
underlayer