Word: lay Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Inherited from Middle English leyen, leggen, from Old English leċġan (“to lay”), from Proto-West Germanic *laggjan, from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną (“to lay”), causative form of Proto-Germanic *ligjaną (“to lie, recline”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie, recline”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian lääse (“to lay; to lie”), West Frisian lizze (“to lay, to lie”), Cimbrian leng (“to lay”), Dutch leggen (“to lay”), German legen (“to lay”), Limburgish lègke (“to lay”), Luxembourgish leeën (“to lay”), Yiddish לייגן (leygn, “to lay”), Danish lægge (“to lay”), Faroese, Icelandic leggja (“to lay”), Norwegian Bokmål legge (“to lay”), Norwegian Nynorsk legga, legge, leggja, leggje (“to lay”), Swedish lägga (“to lay”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (lagjan, “to lay”), Old French laier, laiier, laire (“to leave”), Albanian lag (“troop, band, war encampment”). Pronunciation: /leɪ/ 1. Arrangement or relationship; layout. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: He spoke of a flower or tree in each of the fifteen poems. A simple shape, a color, the design of a hedge, the lay of a limb inspired him in these songs to and about his loves. Example: the lay of the land 2. A share of the profits in a business. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: While the Pequod lay at Nantucket, Peleg put Ishmael down for the three hundredth lay. Example: I was already aware that in the whaling business they paid no wages; but all hands, including the captain, received certain shares of the profits called lays, and that these lays were proportioned to the degree of importance pertaining to the respective duties of the ship’s company. 3. The direction a rope is twisted. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way. 4. A casual sexual partner. Labels: colloquial, countable, uncountable Example: Over the years she'd tried to tell himself that his uptown girl was just another lay. Example: To find a place like that and be discreet about it, Jones figured he needed help, so he went to see his favorite lay, Juan Carillo's woman, Carmen. 5. An act of sexual intercourse. Labels: colloquial, countable, uncountable Example: Listening to this dismissal of his work, [Tennessee] Williams thought to himself of Wilder, “This character has never had a good lay.” Example: Does his make-up in his room Douse himself with cheap perfume Eyeholes in a paper bag Greatest lay I ever had 6. A place or activity where someone spends a significant portion of their time. Labels: archaic, countable, slang, uncountable Example: I shall be on that lay nae mair Example: Since our people have moved this boy on, and he's not to be found on his old lay 7. The laying of eggs. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The hens are off the lay at present. 8. A layer. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: […] lay in the bottom of an earthen pot some dried vine leaves, and so make a lay of Pears, and leaves till the pot is filled up, laying betwixt each lay some sliced Ginger […] Example: […] the whole Body of the Church is chequer’d with different Lays of White and Black Marble […] 9. A basis or ground. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: On this lay or ground we should also add the finishing colours. Example: In the first MacColl patent the pattern chain and engaging rod were carried on the swinging lay on which the needle bars are mounted. 10. A pursuit or practice; a dodge. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: FIDLAM BENS. Thieves who have no particular lay, whose every finger is a fish-hook; fellows that will steal any thing they can remove. Example: "It isn't an exchange lay, at all events," said Mr Carlyle. "His inner case is only half the size of the other and couldn't possibly be substituted."