lie
/laɪ̯/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.84 in modern English
3
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a certain state or condition.
Intransitive verb
verb
Used with with: to have sexual relations with.
verb
Used with on/upon: to be incumbent (on); to be the responsibility of a person.
verb
To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.
Example Sentences
- "The book lies on the table; the snow lies on the roof; he lies in his coffin."
- "Under an oak were lying asleep a pair of shepherds."
- "Though ye haue lien among the pots, yet shall yee bee as the wings of a doue, couered with siluer, and her feathers with yellow gold."
- "The watchful traveller […] / Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes."
- "Our uninquiring corpses lie more low / Than our life's curiosity doth go."
- "The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them."
Etymology
From Middle English lien, liggen, from Old English liċġan, from Proto-West Germanic *liggjan, from Proto-Germanic *ligjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-. Cognates Cognate with Yola lee, lidge (“to lie”), North Frisian lade, lai, laie, lei, lii, läde, läie (“to lie; to lay”), Saterland Frisian lääse (“to lie; to lay”), West Frisian lizze (“to lie”), Alemannic German ligge (“to lie”), Central Franconian lijje (“to lie”), Dutch and Dutch Low Saxon liggen (“to lie”), German liegen (“to lie”), German Low German ligge, liggen (“to lie”), Luxembourgish leien (“to lie”), Yiddish ליגן (lign, “to lie”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ligge (“to lie”), Faroese and Icelandic liggja (“to lie”), Norwegian Nynorsk ligge, liggja, liggje (“to lie”), Swedish ligga (“to lie”), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (ligan, “to lie, to rest”); and with Irish laigh, luigh (“to lie”), Manx lhie (“lie; lay”), Scottish Gaelic laigh (“lie; lay”), Faliscan 𐌋𐌄𐌂𐌄𐌕 (lecet, “he lies down”), Latin lectus (“bed”), South Picene 𐌅𐌄𐌉𐌀𐌕 (veiat, “to lie”), Ancient Greek λέχομαι (lékhomai, “to lie down”), Albanian lag (“band, encampment, troop”), Belarusian ляжа́ць (ljažácʹ, “to lie”), Bulgarian лежа́ (ležá, “to lie”), Czech ležet (“to lie”), Macedonian лежи (leži, “to lie”), Polish leżeć (“to lie”), Russian лежа́ть (ležátʹ, “to lie”), Serbo-Croatian лѐжати, lèžati (“to lie”), Slovene ležáti (“to lie”), Ukrainian лежа́ти (ležáty, “to lie”), Tocharian B lyäk- (“to lie”). As a noun for position, the noun has the same etymology above as the verb.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
lies (present, singular)
lying (participle, present)
lay (past)
laid (colloquial, past)
lain (participle, past)
laid (colloquial, participle)
lien (obsolete, participle)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
lay (first person, past)
lyest (archaic, present)
lay (past, second person)
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
lay
a corresponding transitive version of this word
lees
lier
the cake is a lie
cry wolf
give the lie to
a lie has no legs
Synonyms
alternative fact
deception
fabrication
falsehood
fib
leasing
nonsense
prevarication
tall tale
whopper
half-truth
Long Island Expressway