lie

pronunciation

How to pronounce lie in British English: UK [laɪ] word uk audio image

How to pronounce lie in American English: US [laɪ] word us audio image

Noun:

a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
position or manner in which something is situated
Verb:

be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
be lying, be prostrate; be in a horizontal position
originate (in)
be and remain in a particular state or condition
tell an untruth; pretend with intent to deceive
have a place in relation to something else
assume a reclining position

Word Origin

lie: lie: [OE] English has two words lie. The verb ‘recline’ goes back, together with its Germanic relatives (German liegen, Dutch liggen, Swedish ligga. Danish ligge), to a prehistoric base *leg-, a variant of the base *lag- which produced lay. Both come ultimately from Indo-European *legh-, *logh-, whose other English descendants include litter and low. The verb ‘tell untruths’ and its related noun come from a Germanic base *leug-, *loug-, represented also in German lügen, Dutch liegen, Swedish ljuga, and Danish lyve. The second syllable of English warlock comes from the same source.=> lay, lig, litter, low; warlock

lie (v.1): "speak falsely, tell an untruth," late 12c., from Old English legan, ligan, earlier leogan "deceive, belie, betray" (class II strong verb; past tense leag, past participle logen), from Proto-Germanic *leugan (cognates: Old Norse ljuga, Danish lyve, Old Frisian liaga, Old Saxon and Old High German liogan, German lügen, Gothic liugan), from PIE root *leugh- "to tell a lie."

lie (v.2): "rest horizontally," early 12c., from Old English licgan (class V strong verb; past tense læg, past participle legen) "be situated, reamin; be at rest, lie down," from Proto-Germanic *legjan (cognates: Old Norse liggja, Old Frisian lidzia, Middle Dutch ligghen, Dutch liggen, Old High German ligen, German liegen, Gothic ligan), from PIE *legh- "to lie, lay" (cognates: Hittite laggari "falls, lies," Greek lekhesthai "to lie down," Latin lectus "bed," Old Church Slavonic lego "to lie down," Lithuanian at-lagai "fallow land," Old Irish laigim "I lie down," Irish luighe "couch, grave"). To lie with "have sexual intercourse" is from c. 1300, and compare Old English licgan mid "cohabit with." To take (something) lying down "passively, submissively" is from 1854.

lie (n.1): "an untruth," Old English lyge "lie, falsehood," from Proto-Germanic *lugiz (cognates: Old Norse lygi, Danish løgn, Old Frisian leyne (fem.), Dutch leugen (fem.), Old High German lugi, German Lüge, Gothic liugn "a lie"), from the root of lie (v.1). To give the lie to "accuse directly of lying" is attested from 1590s. Lie-detector first recorded 1909.

lie (n.2): "manner of lying," 1690s, from lie (v.2). Sense in golf is from 1857.

1. The closest bedrock exposures of similar rock lie in northwestern idaho .