lie

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See also: Lie, LIE, lié, líe, liè, liē, liě, li'e, -lie, and łie

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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A dog lying in the grass.

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 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 luí, Russian лежа́ть (ležátʹ), Albanian lag (“troop, band, encampment”).

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

Verb

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lie (third-person singular simple present lies, present participle lying, simple past lay or laid, past participle lain or laid or (obsolete) lien) See usage notes.

  2. (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
  3. (intransitive) To be placed or situated.
    • 1988, Robin D. S. Yates, “Selected Translations”, in Washing Silk: The Life and Selected Poetry of Wei Chuang (834?-910)‎[1], Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 100:
      Ying-yang county lies 70 li southwest of the modern Teng-feng county, Honan.
    • 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.
    • 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.
  4. (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.
  5. Used with in: to be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist.
    • c. 1690, Jeremy Collier, Of Envy:
      Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances.
    • 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.
  6. Used with with: to have sexual relations with.
  7. Used with on/upon: to be incumbent (on); to be the responsibility of a person.
  8. (archaic) To lodge; to sleep.
  9. To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.
  10. (law) 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.
Usage notes
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See the usage notes of lay.

Conjugation
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Conjugation of lie
infinitive (to) lie
present tense past tense
1st-person singular lie lay
2nd-person singular lie, lyest† lay, layst†
3rd-person singular lies, lyeth† lay
plural lie
subjunctive lie lay
imperative lie —
participles lying lain, lien†

†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms
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  • lay, a corresponding transitive version of this word
  • lees
  • lier
Translations
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Noun

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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.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English lien (“to lie, tell a falsehood”), from Old English lēogan (“to lie”), from Proto-West Germanic *leugan, 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”), Polish łgać (“to lie”), Russian лгать (lgatʹ, “to lie”), ложь (ložʹ, “falsehood”).

Verb

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

  2. (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!
    • 2003, “The Package”, performed by A Perfect Circle:
      Lie to get what I came for
      Lie to get just what I need
      Lie to get what I crave
      Lie and smile to get what's mine
  3. (intransitive) To convey a false image or impression.
    Photographs often 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.
Conjugation
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Conjugation of lie
infinitive (to) lie
present tense past tense
1st-person singular lie lied
2nd-person singular lie, liest† lied, liedst†
3rd-person singular lies, lieth† lied
plural lie
subjunctive lie lied
imperative lie —
participles lying lied

†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 3

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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”), Czech lež (“a lie”), Middle Polish łeż (“a lie”), Serbo-Croatian laž (“a lie”).

Noun

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lie (plural lies)

  2. An intentionally false statement; an intentional falsehood.
    Synonyms: alternative fact, deception, fabrication, falsehood, fib, leasing, nonsense, prevarication, tall tale, whopper; see also Thesaurus:lie
    Antonym: truth
    I knew he was telling a lie by his facial expression.
  3. A statement intended to deceive, even if literally true.
    Synonym: half-truth
  4. (by extension) Anything that misleads or disappoints.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Finnish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈlie̯(ˣ)/, [ˈlie̞̯(ʔ)]
  • Rhymes: -ie
  • Syllabification(key): lie

Verb

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lie

  1. (dialectal) third-person singular potential present of olla
    Se on missä lie.
    It's somewhere. / I wonder where it is.
    Tai mitä lie ovatkaan.
    Or whatever they are.
    Kyllä asia lie juuri näin.
    Yes, the thing supposedly is just like that.

Usage notes

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  • This form is commonly used in certain dialects, like the North Karelian dialect, and is also quite common colloquially in other regions. In standard Finnish, the word is only used in highly literary or solemn contexts. Can be used with any person. As a main verb, the form simply occurs in present tense. As an auxiliary verb form, it may take place in the perfect tense form of any verb. In dialectal use, the form can typically be seen in both direct and indirect questions.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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compounds

Further reading

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Anagrams

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French

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Etymology 1

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Inherited from Old French lie, from Early Medieval Latin lias (“lees, dregs”) (descent via winemaking common in monasteries), from Gaulish *ligyā, *legyā (“silt, sediment”) (compare Welsh llai, Old Breton leh (“deposit, silt”)), from Proto-Celtic *legyā (“layer”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”).

Noun

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lie f (plural lies)

  1. lees, dregs (of wine, of society)
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Verb

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lie

  1. inflection of lier:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Mandarin

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Romanization

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lie (lie5／lie0, Zhuyin ˙ㄌㄧㄝ)

  1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 咧

lie

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

Usage notes

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  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Old French

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Etymology

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From Early Medieval Latin lias (“lees, dregs”) (descent via winemaking common in monasteries), from Gaulish *ligyā, *legyā (“silt, sediment”) (compare Welsh llai, Old Breton leh (“deposit, silt”)), from Proto-Celtic *legyā (“layer”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”).

Noun

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

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

Descendants

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  • → English: lees

Old Irish

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Etymology

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From Proto-Celtic *līwanks (compare *līwos), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁w- (“stone”) (compare Ancient Greek λᾶας (lâas, “stone”), Albanian lerë (“boulder”)).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lie m (genitive lïac or lïacc)

  1. a stone
    • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 4d15
      In Belzefuth: is béss didu ind lïacc benir il-béim friss, et intí do·thuit foir ɔ·boing a chnámi, intí fora tuit-som immurgu at·bail-side.
      The Beelzebub: it is the custom, then, of the stone that many blows are hit against it, and he who falls upon it breaks his bones; however, he whom it falls on perishes
    • c. 845, St Gall Glosses on Priscian, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1975, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. II, pp. 49–224, Sg. 65a1
      Níbu machdath do·rónta día dind lïac.
      It was not a wonder that a god would be made of the stone.

Declension

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Masculine k-stem
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative lie liicL liic
Vocative lie liicL lïaca
Accusative liicN, lieicN liicL lïaca
Genitive lïac, lïacc lïac, lïacc lïacN, lïaccN
Dative liicL, lieicL lïacaib lïacaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
  • H = triggers aspiration
  • L = triggers lenition
  • N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

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Mutation

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Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
lie
also llie after a proclitic
ending in a vowel 		lie
pronounced with /l(ʲ)-/ 		unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

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Portuguese

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Verb

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lie

  1. inflection of liar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

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Verb

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lie

  1. first-person singular preterite indicative of liar

Swedish

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lie c

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

Declension

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Declension of lie
nominative genitive
singular indefinite lie lies
definite lien liens
plural indefinite liar liars
definite liarna liarnas
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References

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