lie

• IPA^(key): /laɪ̯/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ
• Homophones: lye, lai

A Bichon Frisé lying in a grass.

From Middle English lien, liggen, from Old English licgan, from Proto-Germanic *ligjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-. Cognate with West Frisian lizze, Dutch liggen, German liegen, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ligge, Swedish ligga, Icelandic, Faroese and Norwegian Nynorsk liggja, Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (ligan); and with Latin lectus (“bed”), Irish luighe, Russian лежа́ть (ležátʹ), Albanian lag (“troop, band, encampment”).

As a noun for position, the noun has the same etymology above as the verb.

lie (third-person singular simple present lies, present participle lying, simple past lay, past participle lain or (obsolete) lien)

1. (intransitive) To rest in a horizontal position on a surface.

   The book lies on the table;  the snow lies on the roof;  he lies in his coffin

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Psalms 68:13:

     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.

   • (Can we date this quote?) John Dryden

     The watchful traveller […] / Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes.

   • 1849, Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

     Our uninquiring corpses lie more low / Than our life's curiosity doth go.

   • 1892, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid:

     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.

2. (intransitive) To be placed or situated.
   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page vii:

     Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.

   • 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:

     From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.

3. To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a certain state or condition.

   to lie waste;  to lie fallow; to lie open;  to lie hidden;  to lie grieving;  to lie under one's displeasure;  to lie at the mercy of the waves

   The paper does not lie smooth on the wall.

4. Used with in: to be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Arthur Collier

     Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances.

   • (Can we date this quote?) John Locke

     He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labour, forgets the early rising and hard riding of huntsmen.

5. Used with with: to have sexual relations with.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Genesis 39:7:

     And it came to passe after these things, that his masters wife cast her eyes vpon Ioseph, and shee said, Lie with me.

6. (archaic) To lodge; to sleep.
   • (Can we date this quote?) John Evelyn

     While I was now trifling at home, I saw London, […] where I lay one night only.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Charles Dickens

     Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night.

7. To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.
   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     The wind is loud and will not lie.

8. (law) To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Ch. J. Parsons

     An appeal lies in this case.

The verb lie in this sense is sometimes used interchangeably with the verb lay in informal spoken settings. This can lead to nonstandard constructions that are sometimes objected to. Additionally, the past tense and past participle can both become laid, instead of lay and lain respectively, in less formal settings. These usages are common in speech but rarely found in edited writing or in more formal spoken situations.

• lay, a corresponding transitive version of this word
• lees
• lier

lie (plural lies)

1. (golf) The terrain and conditions surrounding the ball before it is struck.
2. (disc golf) The terrain and conditions surrounding the disc before it is thrown.
3. (medicine) The position of a fetus in the womb.

From Middle English lien (“to lie, tell a falsehood”), from Old English lēogan (“to lie”), from Proto-Germanic *leuganą (“to lie”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewgʰ- (“to lie, swear, bemoan”). Cognate with West Frisian lige (“to lie”), Low German legen, lögen (“to lie”), Dutch liegen (“to lie”), German lügen (“to lie”), Norwegian ljuge/lyge (“to lie”), Danish lyve (“to lie”), Swedish ljuga (“to lie”), and more distantly with Bulgarian лъжа (lǎža, “to lie”), Russian лгать (lgatʹ, “to lie”), ложь (ložʹ, “falsehood”).

lie (third-person singular simple present lies, present participle lying, simple past and past participle lied)

1. (intransitive) To give false information intentionally with intent to deceive.

   When Pinocchio lies, his nose grows.

   If you are found to have lied in court, you could face a penalty.

   While a principle-based approach might claim that lying is always morally wrong, the casuist would argue that, depending upon the details of the case, lying might or might not be illegal or unethical. The casuist might conclude that a person is wrong to lie in legal testimony under oath, but might argue that lying actually is the best moral choice if the lie saves a life.^WP

2. (intransitive) To convey a false image or impression.

   Photographs often lie.

   Hips don't lie.

3. (intransitive) To succeed or excel at lying; lie successfully; show one's expertise or mastery in the art of lying.

   Wow, that boy can really lie!

4. (intransitive, colloquial) To be mistaken or unintentionally spread false information.

   Sorry, I haven't seen your keys anywhere...wait, I lied! They're right there on the coffee table.

• prevaricate

• belie (2)
• liar
• lie through one's teeth

From Middle English lie, from Old English lyġe (“lie, falsehood”), from Proto-Germanic *lugiz (“lie, falsehood”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewgʰ- (“to tell lies, swear, complain”). Cognate with Old Saxon luggi (“a lie”), Old High German lugī, lugin (“a lie”) (German Lüge), Danish løgn (“a lie”), Bulgarian лъжа́ (lǎžá, “а lie”), Russian ложь (ložʹ, “а lie”).

lie (plural lies)

1. An intentionally false statement; an intentional falsehood.

   I knew he was telling a lie by his facial expression.

2. A statement intended to deceive, even if literally true; a half-truth
3. Anything that misleads or disappoints.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Trench:

     Wishing this lie of life was o'er.

   • The cake is a lie. - Portal

• See also Thesaurus:lie

• truth

• lie on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• %ile, -ile, Eli, Ile, Lei., ile, lei

lie

1. (nonstandard) Third-person singular potential present form of olla.

   Se on missä lie.

   It's somewhere. / I wonder where it is.

   Tai mitä lie ovatkaan

   Or whatever they are.

• This form is chiefly used in direct and indirect questions.

• (3rd-pers. sg. potent. pres. of olla; standard) lienee

• eli, lei

Probably from Transalpine Gaulish *liga (“silt, sediment”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie, to lay”).

lie f (plural lies)

1. lees, dregs (of wine, of society)

lie

1. first-person singular present indicative of lier
2. third-person singular present indicative of lier
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of lier
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of lier
5. second-person singular imperative of lier

• “lie” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

• île

lie (Zhuyin ˙ㄌㄧㄝ)

1. Pinyin transcription of 咧

lie

1. Nonstandard spelling of liē.
2. Nonstandard spelling of lié.
3. Nonstandard spelling of liě.
4. Nonstandard spelling of liè.

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

See English lees.

lie f (oblique plural lies, nominative singular lie, nominative plural lies)

1. dregs; mostly solid, undesirable leftovers of a drink

• English: lees

lie

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of liar.
2. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of liar.

From Old Swedish līe, lē, from Old Norse lé, from Proto-Germanic *lewô, from Proto-Indo-European *leu- (“to cut”).

• IPA^(key): /liːɛ/

lie c

1. scythe; an instrument for mowing grass, grain, or the like.

• lieblad
• liehugg
• lieknagg
• lieknagge
• lieman
• lieorv
• lieskaft
• lietag

• lie in Svenska Akademiens ordlista över svenska språket (13th ed., online)