Lie Meaning

/laɪ̯/
A2

Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Listen pronunciation

verbTo rest in a horizontal position on a surface.

verbTo be placed or situated.

People who will lie for you, will lie to you.
You look pale. You had better lie down in bed at once.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
After a long hike, she wanted to ____ down on the soft grass and rest.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He decided to ____ down on the sofa for a few minutes because he had a slight headache after work today.

From Middle English lien, liggen, from Old English liċġan, from Proto-West Germanic *liggjan, from Proto-Germanic *ligjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-. Cognates Cognate with Yola lee, lidge (“to lie”), leigh, leiough (“to idle”), North Frisian lade, lai, laie, lei, lii, läde, läie (“to lie; to lay”), Saterland Frisian lääse (“to lie; to lay”), West Frisian lizze (“to lie”), Alemannic German ligge (“to lie”), Central Franconian lijje (“to lie”), Dutch and Dutch Low Saxon liggen (“to lie”), German liegen (“to lie”), German Low German ligge, liggen (“to lie”), Luxembourgish leien (“to lie”), Yiddish ליגן (lign, “to lie”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ligge (“to lie”), Faroese and Icelandic liggja (“to lie”), Norwegian Nynorsk ligge, liggja, liggje (“to lie”), Swedish ligga (“to lie”), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (ligan, “to lie, to rest”); and with Irish laigh, luigh (“to lie”), Manx lhie (“lie; lay”), Scottish Gaelic laigh (“lie; lay”), Faliscan 𐌋𐌄𐌂𐌄𐌕 (lecet, “he lies down”), Latin lectus (“bed”), South Picene 𐌅𐌄𐌉𐌀𐌕 (veiat, “to lie”), Ancient Greek λέχομαι (lékhomai, “to lie down”), Albanian lag (“band, encampment, troop”), Belarusian ляжа́ць (ljažácʹ, “to lie”), Bulgarian лежа́ (ležá, “to lie”), Czech ležet (“to lie”), Macedonian лежи (leži, “to lie”), Polish leżeć (“to lie”), Russian лежа́ть (ležátʹ, “to lie”), Serbo-Croatian лѐжати, lèžati (“to lie”), Slovene ležáti (“to lie”), Ukrainian лежа́ти (ležáty, “to lie”), Tocharian B lyäk- (“to lie”). As a noun for position, the noun has the same etymology above as the verb.

"Though ye haue lien among the pots, yet shall yee bee as the wings of a doue, couered with siluer, and her feathers with yellow gold." — 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 68:13:
"The watchful traveller […] / Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes." — 1660, [John] Dryden, Astraea Redux:
"Our uninquiring corpses lie more low / Than our life's curiosity doth go." — 1849, Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers:
"The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them." — 1892, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid:
"Ying-yang county lies 70 li southwest of the modern Teng-feng county, Honan." — 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:

Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words

CEFR Practice Quiz
After a long hike, she wanted to ____ down on the soft grass and rest.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He decided to ____ down on the sofa for a few minutes because he had a slight headache after work today.

Expand Your Vocabulary with LexUp

Master English words using smart flashcards, play exciting word rounds, and compete with other learners worldwide.

Browse CEFR Words Alphabetically