Lay vs. Secular

(transitive) To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.

Example: ‘to lay a book on the table;’; ‘to lay a body in the grave’; ‘A shower of rain lays the dust.’;

To cause to subside or abate.

(transitive) To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).

(transitive) To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.

Example: ‘lay brick;’; ‘lay flooring’;

(transitive) To produce and deposit an egg.

(transitive) To bet (that something is or is not the case).

Example: ‘I'll lay that he doesn't turn up on Monday.’;

(transitive) To deposit (a stake) as a wager; to stake; to risk.

To have sex with.

(nautical) To take a position; to come or go.

Example: ‘to lay forward;’; ‘to lay aloft’;

(legal) To state; to allege.

Example: ‘to lay the venue’;

(military) To point; to aim.

Example: ‘to lay a gun’;

(ropemaking) To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them.

Example: ‘to lay a cable or rope’;

(printing) To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.

(printing) To place (new type) properly in the cases.

To apply; to put.

To impose (a burden, punishment, command, tax, etc.).

Example: ‘to lay a tax on land’;

To impute; to charge; to allege.

To present or offer.

Example: ‘to lay an indictment in a particular county;’; ‘to lay a scheme before one’;

when pertaining to position.

Example: ‘The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.’;

(proscribed) To be in a horizontal position; to lie (from confusion with lie).

To don or put on (tefillin phylacteries]]).

Arrangement or relationship; layout.

Example: ‘the lay of the land’;

A share of the profits in a business.

A lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance.

The direction a rope is twisted.

Example: ‘Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.’;

(colloquial) A casual sexual partner.

Example: ‘What was I, just another lay you can toss aside as you go on to your next conquest?’;

(colloquial) An act of sexual intercourse.

A plan; a scheme.

the laying of eggs.

Example: ‘The hens are off the lay at present.’;

(obsolete) A layer.

A lake.

A ballad or sung poem; a short poem or narrative, usually intended to be sung.

(obsolete) A meadow; a lea.

Non-professional; not being a member of an organized institution.

Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them.

Example: ‘They seemed more lay than clerical.’; ‘a lay preacher; a lay brother’;

(obsolete) Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.

of Lie, to recline.

Of or pertaining to the laity, as distinct from the clergy; as, a lay person; a lay preacher; a lay brother.

Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.

Not belonging to, or emanating from, a particular profession; unprofessional; as, a lay opinion regarding the nature of a disease.

A song; a simple lyrical poem; a ballad.

A melody; any musical utterance.

Example: ‘The throstle cock made eke his lay.’;

The laity; the common people.

Example: ‘The learned have no more privilege than the lay.’;

A meadow. See Lea.

Faith; creed; religious profession.

Example: ‘Of the sect to which that he was bornHe kept his lay, to which that he was sworn.’;

A law.

An obligation; a vow.

Example: ‘They bound themselves by a sacred lay and oath.’;

That which lies or is laid or is conceived of as having been laid or placed in its position; a row; a stratum; a layer; as, a lay of stone or wood.

Example: ‘A viol should have a lay of wire strings below.’;

A wager.

A job, price, or profit.

A measure of yarn; a lea. See 1st Lea (a).

A plan; a scheme.

To cause to lie down, to be prostrate, or to lie against something; to put or set down; to deposit; as, to lay a book on the table; to lay a body in the grave; a shower lays the dust.

Example: ‘A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den.’; ‘Soft on the flowery herb I found me laid.’;

To place in position; to establish firmly; to arrange with regularity; to dispose in ranks or tiers; as, to lay a corner stone; to lay bricks in a wall; to lay the covers on a table.

To prepare; to make ready; to contrive; to provide; as, to lay a snare, an ambush, or a plan.

To spread on a surface; as, to lay plaster or paint.

To cause to be still; to calm; to allay; to suppress; to exorcise, as an evil spirit.

Example: ‘After a tempest when the winds are laid.’;

To cause to lie dead or dying.

Example: ‘Brave Cæneus laid Ortygius on the plain,The victor Cæneus was by Turnus slain.’;

To deposit, as a wager; to stake; to risk.

Example: ‘I dare lay mine honorHe will remain so.’;

To bring forth and deposit; as, to lay eggs.

To apply; to put.

Example: ‘She layeth her hands to the spindle.’;

To impose, as a burden, suffering, or punishment; to assess, as a tax; as, to lay a tax on land.

Example: ‘The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.’;

To impute; to charge; to allege.

Example: ‘God layeth not folly to them.’; ‘Lay the fault on us.’;

To impose, as a command or a duty; as, to lay commands on one.

To present or offer; as, to lay an indictment in a particular county; to lay a scheme before one.

To state; to allege; as, to lay the venue.

To point; to aim; as, to lay a gun.

To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them; as, to lay a cable or rope.

To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.

Example: ‘And laid those proud roofs bare to summer's rain.’; ‘Let brave spirits . . . not be laid by.’; ‘No selfish man will be concerned to lay out himself for the good of his country.’;

To produce and deposit eggs.

To take a position; to come or go; as, to lay forward; to lay aloft.

To lay a wager; to bet.

a narrative song with a recurrent refrain

a narrative poem of popular origin

put into a certain place or abstract location;

Example: ‘Put your things here’; ‘Set the tray down’; ‘Set the dogs on the scent of the missing children’; ‘Place emphasis on a certain point’;

put in a horizontal position;

Example: ‘lay the books on the table’; ‘lay the patient carefully onto the bed’;

prepare or position for action or operation;

Example: ‘lay a fire’; ‘lay the foundation for a new health care plan’;

lay eggs;

Example: ‘This hen doesn't lay’;

impose as a duty, burden, or punishment;

Example: ‘lay a responsibility on someone’;

concerning those not members of the clergy;

Example: ‘set his collar in laic rather than clerical position’; ‘the lay ministry’; ‘the choir sings both sacred and secular music’;

not of or from a profession;

Example: ‘a lay opinion as to the cause of the disease’;

put (something) down gently or carefully

Example: ‘she laid the baby in his cot’;

prevent (something) from rising off the ground

Example: ‘there may have been the odd light shower just to lay the dust’;

put down and set in position for use

Example: ‘it is advisable to have your carpet laid by a professional’;

set cutlery, crockery, etc. on (a table) in preparation for a meal

Example: ‘she laid the table for dinner’;

cover (a surface) with objects or a substance

Example: ‘the floor was laid with mattresses’;

put the material for (a fire) in place and arrange it

Example: ‘he was making newspaper knots before laying a fire in the fireplace’;

prepare (a trap) for someone

Example: ‘she wouldn't put it past him to lay a trap for her’;

work out (an idea or suggestion) in detail ready for use or presentation

Example: ‘I'd like more time to lay my plans’;

present information or suggestions to be considered and acted upon by (someone)

Example: ‘he laid before Parliament proposals for the establishment of the committee’;

locate (an episode in a play, novel, etc.) in a particular place

Example: ‘no one who knew the area could be in doubt where the scene was laid’;

stake (an amount of money) in a bet

Example: ‘she suspected he was pulling her leg, but she wouldn't have laid money on it’;

used with an abstract noun so that the phrase formed has the same meaning as the verb related to the noun used, e.g. ‘lay the blame on’ means ‘to blame’

Example: ‘she laid great stress on little courtesies’;

(of a female bird, insect, reptile, or amphibian) produce (an egg) from inside the body

Example: ‘the hens were laying at the same rate as usual’; ‘flamingos lay only one egg’;

have sex with.

follow (a specified course)

Example: ‘I'm going to lay a course for Ibiza harbour’;

trim (a hedge) back, cutting the branches half through, bending them down, and interweaving them

Example: ‘most hedges are no longer laid’;

the general appearance of an area of land

Example: ‘the lay of the surrounding countryside’;

the position or direction in which something lies

Example: ‘roll the carpet against the lay of the nap’;

the direction or amount of twist in rope strands.

an act of sexual intercourse.

a person with a particular ability or availability as a sexual partner.

the laying of eggs or the period during which they are laid

Example: ‘the onset of lay may be marked by a dropping of the duck's abdomen’;

a short lyric or narrative poem meant to be sung

Example: ‘a minstrel recited a series of lays’;

a song

Example: ‘on his lips there died the cheery lay’;

not ordained into or belonging to the clergy

Example: ‘a lay preacher’;

not having professional qualifications or expert knowledge, especially in law or medicine

Example: ‘a lay member of the Health Authority’;

Not specifically religious; lay or civil, as opposed to clerical.

Temporal; worldly, or otherwise not based on something timeless.

(Christianity) Not bound by the vows of a monastic order.

Example: ‘secular clergy in Catholicism’;

Happening once in an age or century.

Example: ‘The secular games of ancient Rome were held to mark the end of a saeculum and the beginning of the next.’;

Continuing over a long period of time, long-term.

Example: ‘The long-term growth in population and income accounts for most secular trends in economic phenomena.’; ‘on a secular basis’;

(literary) Centuries-old, ancient.

Relating to long-term non-periodic irregularities, especially in planetary motion or magnetic field.

(atomic physics) Unperturbed over time.

A secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules.

A church official whose functions are confined to the vocal department of the choir.

A layman, as distinguished from a clergyman.

Coming or observed once in an age or a century.

Example: ‘The secular year was kept but once a century.’;

Pertaining to an age, or the progress of ages, or to a long period of time; accomplished in a long progress of time; as, secular inequality; the secular refrigeration of the globe.

Of or pertaining to this present world, or to things not spiritual or holy; relating to temporal as distinguished from eternal interests; not immediately or primarily respecting the soul, but the body; worldly.

Example: ‘New foes arise,Threatening to bind our souls with secular chains.’;

Not regular; not bound by monastic vows or rules; not confined to a monastery, or subject to the rules of a religious community; as, a secular priest.

Example: ‘He tried to enforce a stricter discipline and greater regard for morals, both in the religious orders and the secular clergy.’;

Belonging to the laity; lay; not clerical.

Example: ‘I speak of folk in secular estate.’;

A secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules.

A church official whose functions are confined to the vocal department of the choir.

A layman, as distinguished from a clergyman.

concerning those not members of the clergy;

Example: ‘set his collar in laic rather than clerical position’; ‘the lay ministry’; ‘the choir sings both sacred and secular music’;