Laying

How to spell laying

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce laying

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does laying mean?

1. verbPlacing or setting something down carefully in position, or (of a bird) producing eggs.

Laying in a sentence

• The builders spent the morning laying the foundation bricks.

• She is laying the table for the dinner guests.

Where does laying come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the present participle of the verb 'lay', which descends from the Old English lecgan, meaning 'to put down' or 'to cause to lie'. That verb was the causative partner of licgan 'to lie, to be in a horizontal position', so from the very beginning 'lay' meant making something else lie down while 'lie' meant doing it yourself. The pair share a common Germanic ancestor, and that close family link is exactly why English speakers still muddle 'laying' (placing an object) with 'lying' (reclining). When 'lay' takes the participle ending, the spelling keeps the y and simply adds -ing, giving 'laying' rather than any 'e' before the suffix. The word has carried its everyday practical sense (setting bricks, setting a table, a hen producing eggs) for well over a thousand years.

How the word is built

• lay (to place or set down)
• -ing (present participle suffix; the y is kept before -ing)