• (RP) IPA: /lɛə/, /ˈleɪ.ə/
• (America) IPA: /ˈleɪ.ɚ/, /lɛɚ/

Appears at first glance to be from Middle English leyer, leyare ("a layer of stones or bricks"), equivalent to lay + -er.

However, this word layer (referring to a thickness of a material covering a surface) has long been argued to be from a respelling of an obsolete sense of the word lair that was once used by farmers, which had to do with soil.

layer (plural layers)

1. A single thickness of some material covering a surface.

   Wrap the loaf in two layers of aluminum foil before putting it in the oven.

   After the first coat of paint dried, he applied another layer.

   1. An item of clothing worn under or over another.

      It's cold now but it will warm up this afternoon. Make sure you wear layers.

2. A (usually) horizontal deposit; a stratum.

   I find seven-layer cake a bit too rich.

3. One of the items in a hierarchy.

   mired in layers of deceit

4. (computer graphics, by analogy to a stack of transparency) One in a stack of (initially transparent) drawing surfaces that comprise an image; used to keep elements of an image separate so that they can be modified independently from one another.
5. (networking) One of the seven network switch pieces in the Open Systems Interconnection model: application, presentation, session, transport, network, data link, and physical.

• (single thickness) lay (obsolete)
• (stratum) stratum

• French: couche
• German: Lage, Schicht
• Italian: strato
• Portuguese: camada
• Russian: слой
• Spanish: capa

• French: couche
• German: Bekleidungsschicht, Lage, Schicht
• Italian: strato
• Portuguese: camada

• German: Schicht
• Italian: strato
• Portuguese: camada
• Russian: слой

• French: calque
• German: Ebene

layer (layers, present participle layering; simple past and past participle layered)

1. (ambitransitive) To cut or divide into layers.
2. (ambitransitive) To arrange in layers.

   Layer the ribbons on top of one another to make an attractive pattern.

• German: trennen, spalten
• Russian: рассла́ивать

• German: schichten, übereinanderlegen
• Russian: насла́ивать

From lay + -er.

layer (plural layers)

1. A person who lays anything, such as tiles or a wager.
   • 1890, The Argosy, volume 49, page 183:

     If fortune ever favoured any venturesome layer of bets, Tom Elliot was certainly the one that day.

2. A mature female bird, insect, etc. that is able to lay eggs.

   As for which hen we'll cull for next Sunday's dinner, we certainly won't eat Henrietta yet — she's still a prime layer.

   When dealing with an infestation of headlice, the first step is to eliminate the layers.

3. A hen kept to lay eggs; a breed of chicken bred to maximize laying output.

   Coordinate terms: broiler, fryer, roaster, stewer

   We keep a flock of layers and flock of broilers.

4. A shoot of a plant, laid underground for growth.

• German: Leger, Verleger
• Portuguese: assentador
• Russian: укла́дчик

• French: pondeuse
• German: Legehenne
• Italian: ovaiola
• Portuguese: botadeira
• Russian: несу́шка
• Spanish: gallina ponedora, ponedora

• French: marcotte
• German: Absenker, Ableger, Kindel
• Russian: отводок
• Spanish: hijuelo

1. Surname.