WikiWord

English

underlay

/ʌndəɹˈleɪ/ · verb

Meaning

  1. simple past of underlie
  2. To lay (something) underneath something else; to put under.
  3. To provide a support for something; to raise or support by something laid under.
  4. To put a tap on (a shoe).
  5. To incline from the vertical.
  6. A layer (of earth, etc.) that lies under another; substratum.
  7. A soft floor covering that lies under a carpet.
  8. Anything that is underlaid.
  9. A piece of paper pasted under woodcuts, stereotype plates, etc. in a form, to bring them up to the necessary level for printing.
  10. Lyrics; or more specifically, the way in which lyrics are assigned to musical notes.

Etymology / origin

From Middle English underleyen, from Old English underleċġan (“to underlay, prop, support”), equivalent to under- + lay. Cognate with Dutch onderleggen (“to lay or put under”), German unterlegen (“to underlay”), Swedish underlägga (“to underlay”).

  1. underlägga(sv)
  2. unterlegen(German)
  3. onderleggen(nl)
  4. underleċġan(ang)
  5. underleyen(enm)
  6. underlay (English)
  7. Relations: inh, inh, cog, cog, cog

Related words

Sources

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