lye
/laɪ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.72 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To treat with lye.
name
A suburban area in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England (OS grid ref SO9284).
name
A diminutive of the female given name Lyanna.
Example Sentences
- "She had not left the lye in too long so that the hair would fall out in clumps later."
- "Now negligent of sports I lye, And now as other Fawkners use, I spring a mistresse, sweare, write, sigh and weepe: And the game kill'd, or lost, goe talk, and sleepe."
- "But when his foe lyes proſtrate on the plain, He ſheaths his paws, uncurls his angry mane; And, pleas'd with bloudleſs honours of the day, Walks over, and diſdains th' inglorious Prey,[…]"
- "Brakevan lye. [same page in the main text] There is also an inclined lye for brakevans at each end of the yard."
Etymology
From Middle English leye, lye, from Old English lēah, lēag (“lye”), from Proto-West Germanic *laugu, from Proto-Germanic *laugō, from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Loge, Looie (“lye”), Dutch loog (“lye”), German Low German Loge, Loje, Loog (“lye”), German Lauge (“lye”). Compare typologically Ancient Greek ῥύμμα (rhúmma) < ῥύπτω (rhúptō, “to cleanse, to wash”); Russian м́ыло (ḿylo) (a nomen instrumenti of мыть (mytʹ)).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *lewh₃-, leye, lēah, *laugu, *laugō
Usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- Obsolete
- British usage