• IPA: /laɪ̯/

From Middle English lien, liggen, from Old English liċġan, from Proto-West Germanic *liggjan, from Proto-Germanic *ligjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-.

Cognate with Western Frisian lizze, Dutch liggen, German liegen, Danish - and Norwegian Bokmål ligge, Swedish ligga, Icelandic -, Faroese - and Norwegian Nynorsk liggja, Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽; and with Latin lectus, Irish luí, Russian лежа́ть, Albanian lag.

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

lie (lies, present participle lying; simple past lay, past participle lain) See usage notes.

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), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, 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.

   • 1660, [John] Dryden, Astraea Redux:

     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.

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, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →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.

3. (intransitive, copulative) 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.
   • 1693, [John Locke], “§2016”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC ↗:

     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), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, 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. Used with on/upon: to be incumbent (on); to be the responsibility of a person.
7. (archaic) To lodge; to sleep.
   • 1632, John Evelyn, diary, entry 21 October 1632:

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

   • 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 10, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC ↗:

     Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night.

8. To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.
   • c. 1607–1608, William Shakeſpeare, The Late, And much admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: Imprinted at London for Henry Goſſon,  […], published 1609, →OCLC ↗, [Act III, scene i] ↗:

     The Wind is lowd, and will not lie till the Ship be cleard of the dead.

9. (legal) To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained.
   • 1737, Cart against Marsh ↗ (legal case)

     An appeal lies in this case from the ordinary to the arches.

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

• French: être étendu, gésir, être couché
• German: liegen
• Italian: essere sdraiato, essere disteso, giacere
• Portuguese: estar deitado, jazer
• Russian: лежа́ть
• Spanish: estar acostado, estar echado, yacer, estar tumbado

• French: trouver
• German: liegen
• Italian: trovarsi, risiedere, essere posto
• Portuguese: jazer, ficar, localizar-se
• Russian: располага́ться
• Spanish: estar ubicado, yacer, estribar

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.
4. A manner of lying; relative position.
5. An animal's lair.

• German: Kindslage

From Middle English lien, from Old English lēogan, from Proto-West Germanic *leugan, from Proto-Germanic *leuganą, from Proto-Indo-European *lewgʰ-.

Cognate with Western Frisian lige, Low German legen, lögen ("to lie"), Dutch liegen, German lügen, Norwegian ljuge/lyge ("to lie"), Danish lyve, Swedish ljuga, and more distantly with Bulgarian лъжа, Polish łgać, Russian лгать, ложь ("falsehood").

lie (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.

   Don't lie to me!

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

   Photographs often lie.

3. (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

• French: mentir, mythonner
• German: lügen, täuschen
• Italian: mentire
• Portuguese: mentir
• Russian: лгать
• Spanish: mentir, embustear, embustir

From Middle English lie, from Old English lyġe, from Proto-Germanic *lugiz, from Proto-Indo-European *lewgʰ-.

lie (plural lies)

1. An intentionally false statement; an intentional falsehood.

   Synonyms: alternative fact, deception, fabrication, falsehood, fib, leasing, nonsense, prevarication, tall tale, whopper, Thesaurus:lie

   Antonyms: truth

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

   • 1840 May 5, Thomas Carlyle, “Lecture I. The Hero as Divinity. Odin. Paganism: Scandinavian Mythology.”, in On Heroes, Hero-Worship and The Heroic in History, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1840, →OCLC ↗, page 4 ↗:

     Man everywhere is the born enemy of lies.

2. A statement intended to deceive, even if literally true.

   Synonyms: half-truth

3. (by extension) Anything that misleads or disappoints.
   • 1835, Richard Chenevix Trench, the Story of Justin Martyr:

     Wishing this lie of life was o'er.

• French: mensonge
• German: Lüge
• Italian: bugia, menzogna, frottola, baggianata, fola, balla, fandonia
• Portuguese: mentira
• Russian: ложь
• Spanish: mentira, embuste, cáshpira (El Salvador)

1. Initialism of Long Island Expressway

   Synonyms: Long Island Expressway, Interstate 495, I-495

1. (attributive) Surname.