leyen

Middle English

Alternative forms

• leyn, leygen, layn, leggen, leghen, lecchen

Etymology

From Old English leċġan, from Proto-West Germanic *laggjan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛi̯ən/

Verb

leyen

1. to lay
   • c. 1380, Geoffrey Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde‎:

     The sterne wind so loude gan to route That no wight other noyse mighte here; And they that layen at the dore with-oute, 745 Ful sykerly they slepten alle y-fere; And Pandarus, with a ful sobre chere, Goth to the dore anon with-outen lette, Ther-as they laye, and softely it shette.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

Conjugation of leyen (weak in -de)

infinitive	(to) leyen, leye
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	leye	leyde
2nd-person singular	leyest	leydest
3rd-person singular	leyeth	leyde
subjunctive singular	leye
imperative singular		—
plural1	leyen, leye	leyden, leyde
imperative plural	leyeth, leye	—
participles	leyynge, leyende	leyd

¹ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: lay
• Scots: lay
• Yola: laaye, laay, leiough, leigh

References

• “leien, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.