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lie

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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

Translingual

Symbol

lie

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Likila.

See also

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

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

lie (third-person singular simple present lies, present participle lying, simple past lay or (colloquial) laid, past participle lain or (colloquial) 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.
    Under an oak were lying asleep a pair of shepherds.
  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)‎, 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
  • See the usage notes of lay.
Conjugation
More information infinitive, present tense ...

† Archaic or obsolete.

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

Noun

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
Translations

Etymology 2

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 North Frisian jooge, leeg, löög (“to lie”), Saterland Frisian ljooge (“to lie”), West Frisian lige (“to lie”), Low German legen, liegen, lögen (“to lie”), Dutch liegen (“to lie”), German lügen (“to lie”), Luxembourgish léien (“to lie”), Danish lyve (“to lie”), Faroese lúgva (“to lie”), Icelandic ljúga (“to lie”), Norwegian Bokmål juge, lyge, lyve (“to lie”), Norwegian Nynorsk ljuga, ljuge, lyga, lyge (“to lie”), Scanian ljuğa (“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

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!
    • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 54:
      It is true that the latter had assumed much more of the fault than was rightly his, but if he lied a little he may be excused, for he lied in the service of a woman, and he lied like a gentleman.
    • 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
More information infinitive, present tense ...

† Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

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

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.
  5. (slang, African-American Vernacular) A liar; a dishonest person.
Usage notes
  • Sense 4 is usually expressed as you a lie, he a lie, etc.
Derived terms
Translations

Further reading

Anagrams

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Antigua and Barbuda Creole English

Alternative forms

Verb

lie

  1. leave

Finnish

Pronunciation

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

Verb

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

  • 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

Derived terms

compounds

Further reading

  • “lie”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 1 December 2023

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French

Etymology 1

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

lie f (plural lies)

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

Etymology 2

Verb

lie

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

Further reading

Anagrams

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Mandarin

Romanization

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

  • 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.
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Old French

Etymology

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

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

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

Descendants

  • → English: lees
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Old Irish

Portuguese

Spanish

Swedish

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