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Origin and history of lying

lying(n.1)

"reclining," early 13c., verbal noun from lie (v.2) "to recline." Lying-in "a being in childbed" is attested from mid-15c.

lying(n.2)

"untruthfulness, falsehood," c. 1300, "the telling of lies," verbal noun from lie (v.1) "to tell an untruth."

lying(adj.1)

"being prostrate," late Old English, present-participle adjective from lie (v.2) "to recline."

lying(adj.2)

"untruthful," early 13c., present-participle adjective from lie (v.1) "to tell an untruth." Related: Lyingly.

also from early 13c.

Entries linking to lying

lie(v.2)

"rest horizontally, be in a recumbent position," Middle English lien, from Old English licgan (class V strong verb; past tense læg, past participle legen) "be situated, have a specific position; remain; be at rest, lie down," from Proto-Germanic *legjan (source also of Old Norse liggja, Old Saxon liggian, Old Frisian lidzia, Middle Dutch ligghen, Dutch liggen, Old High German ligen, German liegen, Gothic ligan "to lie"), from PIE root *legh- "to lie down, lay."

Especially "to lie in bed," hence often with sexual implications, as in lie with "have sexual intercourse" (c. 1300), and compare Old English licgan mid "cohabit with." To lie in "be brought to childbed" is from mid-15c. To lie to at sea is to come to a standstill. To take (something) lying down "receive passively, receive with abject submission" is from 1854.

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    prevarication
    late 14c., prevaricacioun, "divergence from a right course, transgression, violation of a law or commandment" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French prevaricacion "breaking of God's laws, disobedience (to the Faith)" (12c., Modern French prévarication) and directly from Latin pr
    lair
    Old English leger "act or place of lying down; bed, couch; illness; the grave," from Proto-Germanic *legraz (source also...of Old Norse legr "the grave," also "nuptials" (both "a lying down"); Old Frisian leger "situation," Old Saxon legar "bed...," Middle Dutch legher "act or place of lying down," Dutch leger "bed, camp," Old High German legar "bed, a lying down,"...German Lager "bed, lair, camp, storehouse," Gothic ligrs "place of lying"), from PIE root *legh- "to lie down, lay."...
    procumbent
    1660s, in biology, "unable to support itself, lying on the ground without putting forth roots," from Latin procumbentem (...The meaning "leaning forward, lying on the face" is from 1721. Related: Procumbently....
    mendacious
    "given to lying, speaking falsely; having the characteristics of a lie, false, untrue," 1610s, from French mendacieux and...directly from Latin mendacium "a lie, untruth, falsehood, fiction," from mendax (genitive mendacis) "lying, deceitful,"...
    supine
    c. 1500, "lying on the back," from Latin supinus "bent backwards, thrown backwards, lying on the back," figuratively "inactive...
    adjacence
    "state of lying close or contiguous," c. 1600, from Medieval Latin adjacentia, abstract noun from Latin adiacens "lying at...
    prone
    The meaning "bending forward with the face down" is from 1570s; according to OED, the broader sense of "lying flat, in a...things that have not an upper and under side, but improper of men and animals, unless the position is as in I" ["situated or lying...
    flank
    late Old English flanc "flank, fleshy part of the side," from Old French flanc "hip, side," from Frankish or another Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *hlanca- (source also of Old High German (h)lanca, Middle High German lanke "hip joint," German lenken "to bend, turn aside;"
    intervene
    1580s, "intercept" (obsolete), a back-formation from intervention, or else from Latin intervenire "to come between, intervene; interrupt; stand in the way, oppose, hinder," from inter "between" (see inter-) + venire "to come," from a suffixed form of PIE root *gwa- "to go, come."
    stretch
    Middle English strecchen, from Old English streccan (transitive and intransitive) "draw out to full length, spread out, prostrate (oneself);" also "to reach or extend in space" (past tense strehte, past participle streht). This is from Proto-Germanic *strakjanan (source also of D

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