Wiktionary

lye

See also: lyé, -lye, and Lye

English

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

From Middle English leye, lye, from Old English lēah, lēag (“lye”), from Proto-West Germanic *laugu, from Proto-Germanic *laugō, from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Loge, Looie (“lye”), Dutch loog (“lye”), German Low German Loge, Loje, Loog (“lye”), German Lauge (“lye”).

Noun

edit

lye (countable and uncountable, plural lyes)

  1. An alkaline liquid made by leaching ashes (usually wood ashes).
  2. Potassium or sodium hydroxide (caustic soda).
    • 2019, Namwali Serpell, The Old Drift, Hogarth, page 372:
      She had not left the lye in too long so that the hair would fall out in clumps later.
Derived terms
edit
Translations
edit
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

edit

lye (third-person singular simple present lyes, present participle lyeing or lying, simple past and past participle lyed)

  1. To treat with lye.

Further reading

edit

Etymology 2

edit

Variant of lie (“to rest horizontally”) now used in a specialised sense; compare sett.

Verb

edit

lye (third-person singular simple present lyes, present participle lying, simple past lay, past participle lain or layn)

  1. Obsolete spelling of lie.
    • 1654, John Donne, Loves Diet:
      Now negligent of sports I lye,
      And now as other Fawkners use,
      I spring a mistresse, sweare, write, sigh and weepe:
      And the game kill'd, or lost, goe talk, and sleepe.
    • 1687, [John Dryden], “The Third Part”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 88:
      But when his foe lyes proſtrate on the plain,
      He ſheaths his paws, uncurls his angry mane;
      And, pleas'd with bloudleſs honours of the day,
      Walks over, and diſdains th' inglorious Prey, […]

Noun

edit

lye (plural lyes)

  1. Obsolete spelling of lie.
  2. (UK, rail transport) A short side line, connected with the main line; a turn-out; a siding.
    • 1962 October, G. Freeman Allen, “The New Look in Scotland's Northern Division—II: The new Perth marshalling yard”, in Modern Railways, page 273, photo caption with indicating arrow:
      Brakevan lye. [same page in the main text] There is also an inclined lye for brakevans at each end of the yard.

References

edit

“lye”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

edit

Norwegian Nynorsk

edit

Etymology 1

edit

From Old Norse hlýja, from the adjective hlýr.

Alternative forms

edit
  • lya (a infinitive)

Verb

edit

lye (present tense lyer, past tense lydde, past participle lytt/lydd, passive infinitive lyast, present participle lyande, imperative ly)

  1. to warm up, give off warmth

Etymology 2

edit

Verb

edit

lye (present tense lyar or lyer, past tense lya or lydde, past participle lya or lydd, present participle lyande)

  1. Eye dialect spelling of lyde.

Etymology 3

edit

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

edit

lye

  1. inflection of ly:
    1. definite singular
    2. plural

References

edit

Anagrams

edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=lye&oldid=82512828"