Definition of lay down

The origins of the English verb "lay" and its derivatives, such as "lay down," can be traced back to Old English times. The Old English word "leggian" originally meant "to put" or "to place," and was closely related to the Old Norse word "leggja" and the Old High German word "leggen," which all shared the same meaning. Over time, the Old English word "leggian" evolved into the Middle English verb "leggen," which retained the basic meaning of "to put" or "to place." This form of the word continued to be used in the 14th century, when it began to be spelled as "lay," which was the past tense form of the verb "lie" ("legan," the past tense of "leggan" in Old and Middle English). The confusion between the verbs "lie" and "lay" can be explained by the fact that they once shared the same stem, "legan," which meant "to lie" or "to place." Over time, the meaning of "lie" shifted to refer only to verbs that express a state of being or rest, while "lay" retained its original meaning of "to place" or "to put." Today, the verb "lay" is used to refer to actions of placing or setting objects or people, whereas "lie" is used to refer to a state of being or rest. The phrasal verb "lay down" originates from the combination of "lay" (meaning "to place") and "down," which indicates direction or position, resulting in a sense of "to put down" or "to place in a lying position."