belay

See also: Belay

English

The woman in yellow is **belaying** a climber (not pictured)

Etymology 1

From Middle English beleggen, bileggen, from Old English beleċġan (“to cover, invest, surround, afflict, attribute to, charge with, accuse”), From Proto-West Germanic *bilaggjan, equivalent to be- (“about, around”) +‎ lay. Cognate with Dutch beleggen (“to cover, overlay, belay”), German belegen (“to cover, occupy, belay”), Swedish belägga (“to pave”).

Pronunciation

Verb:
- (US) IPA^(key): /bɪˈleɪ/
- (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbiːleɪ/, /bɪˈleɪ/
  - Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Rhymes: -eɪ, (UK) -iːleɪ
Noun:
- IPA^(key): /ˈbiːleɪ/
  - Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Rhymes: -iːleɪ

Verb

belay (third-person singular simple present belays, present participle belaying, simple past and past participle belayed or belaid)

(transitive, intransitive, nautical) To make (a rope) fast by turning it around a fastening point such as a cleat.
(transitive, climbing) To handle a climbing rope to prevent (a climber) from falling to the ground.
He would need an experienced partner to belay him on the difficult climbs.
(transitive) To lay aside; to stop; to cancel.
I could only hope the remaining piton would belay his fall.

Belay that order!
- 2015 February 1, Howard Tayler, Schlock Mercenary‎^[1], archived from the original on 14 May 2024:
  "We landed in their killbox?" "We did. I am sor... No, belay that. Heads down! Cavalry incoming!"
(intransitive, nautical) The general command to stop or cease.
(transitive, obsolete) To surround; to environ; to enclose.
(transitive, obsolete) To overlay; to adorn.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 5:
  jacket […] belayd with silver lace
(transitive, obsolete) To besiege; invest; surround.
(transitive, obsolete) To lie in wait for in order to attack; block up or obstruct.

Derived terms

Translations

to make fast by turning around a fastening point

Bulgarian: навивам (bg) (navivam), притягам (bg) (pritjagam)
Czech: připevnit pf
Finnish: kiinnittää (fi)
Italian: dare volta, assicurare (it)
Ottoman Turkish: مانداللامق (mandallamak)
Spanish: amarrar (es), anclar (es)
Ukrainian: закріпи́ти (zakripýty)

to handle a climbing rope

Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} осигурявам (bg) (osigurjavam)
Czech: jistit (cs) impf
Dutch: zekeren (nl)
French: assurer (fr)
German: sichern (de)
Italian: assicurare (it)
Russian: страхова́ть (ru) impf (straxovátʹ), подстрахо́вывать (ru) impf (podstraxóvyvatʹ), подстрахова́ть (ru) pf (podstraxovátʹ)
Spanish: asegurar (es)
Swedish: säkra (sv)
Ukrainian: страхува́ти (straxuváty), підстрахо́вувати (pidstraxóvuvaty)

general command to stop

Bulgarian: стига (bg) (stiga), стоп (stop)
German: beenden (de)
Russian: отставить (ru) (otstavitʹ)
Spanish: cancelar (es), anular (es)
Ukrainian: відста́вити (vidstávyty)

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

Ido: ^{(please verify)} amaragar (io)

Noun

belay (plural belays)

(climbing) The securing of a rope to a rock or other projection.
(climbing) The object to which a rope is secured.
(climbing) A location at which a climber stops and builds an anchor with which to secure their partner.
- 1967, Anthony Greenbank, Instructions in Mountaineering, page 84:
  But instead of swapping over at the ice axe belay, you carry on in the lead, cutting or kicking steps until you are about twenty feet above.

Derived terms

belay device

Translations

Spanish: amarre de seguridad m

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bɪˈleɪ/
Rhymes: -eɪ

Verb

belay

simple past of belie (“encompass”)

References

“belay”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
“belay”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

Baley, Leyba, Bayle