lie

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

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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

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

Verb[edit]

lie (third-person singular simple present lies, present participle lying, simple past lay, past participle lain or (obsolete) lien)

  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.
    • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →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.
  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.
Conjugation[edit]
conjugation of lie
infinitive lie
present participle lying
past participle lain
simple progressive perfect perfect progressive
present I lie we lie I am lying we are lying I have lain we have lain I have been lying we have been lying
you lie you lie you are lying you are lying you have lain you have lain you have been lying you have been lying
he lies they lie he is lying they are lying he has lain they have lain he has been lying they have been lying
past I lay we lay I was lying we were lying I had lain we had lain I had been lying we had been lying
you lay you lay you were lying you were lying you had lain you had lain you had been lying you had been lying
he lay they lay he was lying they were lying he had lain they had lain he had been lying they had been lying
future I will lie we will lie I will be lying we will be lying I will have lain we will have lain I will have been lying we will have been lying
you will lie you will lie you will be lying you will be lying you will have lain you will have lain you will have been lying you will have been lying
he will lie they will lie he will be lying they will be lying he will have lain they will have lain he will have been lying they will have been lying
conditional I would lie we would lie I would be lying we would be lying I would have lain we would have lain I would have been lying we would have been lying
you would lie you would lie you would be lying you would be lying you would have lain you would have lain you would have been lying you would have been lying
he would lie they would lie he would be lying they would be lying he would have lain they would have lain he would have been lying they would have been lying
imperative lie
Usage notes[edit]

See the usage notes at lay.

Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
  • lay, a corresponding transitive version of this word
  • lees
  • lier
Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

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.
Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

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”), Russian лгать (lgatʹ, “to lie”), ложь (ložʹ, “falsehood”).

Verb[edit]

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.
    While a principle-based approach might claim that lying is always morally wrong, the casuist would argue that, depending upon the details of the case, lying might or might not be illegal or unethical. The casuist might conclude that a person is wrong to lie in legal testimony under oath, but might argue that lying actually is the best moral choice if the lie saves a life.WP
  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[edit]
conjugation of lie
infinitive lie
present participle lying
past participle lied
simple progressive perfect perfect progressive
present I lie we lie I am lying we are lying I have lied we have lied I have been lying we have been lying
you lie you lie you are lying you are lying you have lied you have lied you have been lying you have been lying
he lies they lie he is lying they are lying he has lied they have lied he has been lying they have been lying
past I lied we lied I was lying we were lying I had lied we had lied I had been lying we had been lying
you lied you lied you were lying you were lying you had lied you had lied you had been lying you had been lying
he lied they lied he was lying they were lying he had lied they had lied he had been lying they had been lying
future I will lie we will lie I will be lying we will be lying I will have lied we will have lied I will have been lying we will have been lying
you will lie you will lie you will be lying you will be lying you will have lied you will have lied you will have been lying you will have been lying
he will lie they will lie he will be lying they will be lying he will have lied they will have lied he will have been lying they will have been lying
conditional I would lie we would lie I would be lying we would be lying I would have lied we would have lied I would have been lying we would have been lying
you would lie you would lie you would be lying you would be lying you would have lied you would have lied you would have been lying you would have been lying
he would lie they would lie he would be lying they would be lying he would have lied they would have lied he would have been lying they would have been lying
imperative lie
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

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”).

Noun[edit]

lie (plural lies)

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

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Finnish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

lie

  1. (colloquial) 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.

Usage notes[edit]

  • This form is chiefly used in direct and indirect questions.

Synonyms[edit]

  • (3rd-pers. sg. potent. pres. of olla; standard) lienee

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Probably from Transalpine Gaulish *liga (“silt, sediment”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie, to lay”).

Noun[edit]

lie f (plural lies)

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

Verb[edit]

lie

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

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Mandarin[edit]

Romanization[edit]

lie (Zhuyin ˙ㄌㄧㄝ)

  1. Pinyin transcription 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[edit]

  • English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Old French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From 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[edit]

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

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

Descendants[edit]

  • → English: lees

Old Irish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

lie m (genitive lïac(c))

  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[edit]

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[edit]

Mutation[edit]

Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
lie
also llie after a proclitic 		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[edit]

Spanish[edit]

Verb[edit]

lie

  1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of liar.
  2. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of liar.

Swedish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

lie c

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

Declension[edit]

Declension of lie 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative lie lien liar liarna
Genitive lies liens liars liarnas

Related terms[edit]

References[edit]

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