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layer

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See also: Layer

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Appears at first glance to be from Middle English leyer, leyare (“a layer of stones or bricks”), equivalent to lay +‎ -er. In which case, ultimately identical to the other word below that is also spelt layer.

However, this word layer (referring to a thickness of a material covering a surface) has long been argued to be from a respelling of an obsolete sense of the word lair that was once used by farmers, which had to do with soil. The connecting sense between the usual meaning of lair and the specialised farming meaning was: an area where cows typically rest, the ground being fertilised by their waste. Related to lie, ledger.

Noun

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layer (plural layers)

  1. A single thickness of some material covering a surface.
    Wrap the loaf in two layers of aluminum foil before putting it in the oven.
    After the first coat of paint dried, he applied another layer.
    1. An item of clothing worn under or over another.
      It's cold now but it will warm up this afternoon. Make sure you wear layers.
  2. A (usually) horizontal deposit; a stratum.
    • 2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition:
      Sometimes, the underlying layers are exposed by erosion, revealing the story of the rocks like an open book.
    I find seven-layer cake a bit too rich.
  3. One of the items in a hierarchy.
    mired in layers of deceit
    • 2001, C/C++ Users Journal, volume 19, page 38:
      Right above the database access layer sits a number cruncher that performs any calculations that a particular request may require, such as computing a standard deviation. In many cases, this layer just forwards raw numbers.
  4. (computer graphics, by analogy to a stack of transparencies) One in a stack of (initially transparent) drawing surfaces that comprise an image; used to keep elements of an image separate so that they can be modified independently from one another.
  5. (networking) One of the seven network switch pieces in the Open Systems Interconnection model: application, presentation, session, transport, network, data link, and physical.
Synonyms
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  • (single thickness): lay (obsolete)
  • (stratum): stratum
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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layer (third-person singular simple present layers, present participle layering, simple past and past participle layered)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To cut or divide into layers.
  2. (transitive, intransitive) To arrange in layers.
    Layer the ribbons on top of one another to make an attractive pattern.
Translations
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Etymology 2

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From lay +‎ -er.

Noun

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layer (plural layers)

  1. A person who lays anything, such as tiles or a wager.
    • 1890, The Argosy, volume 49, page 183:
      If fortune ever favoured any venturesome layer of bets, Tom Elliot was certainly the one that day.
  2. A mature female bird, insect, etc. that is able to lay eggs.
    As for which hen we'll cull for next Sunday's dinner, we certainly won't eat Henrietta yet — she's still a prime layer.
    When dealing with an infestation of headlice, the first step is to eliminate the layers.
  3. A hen kept to lay eggs; a breed of chicken bred to maximize laying output.
    Coordinate terms: broiler, fryer, roaster, stewer
    We keep a flock of layers and flock of broilers.
  4. A shoot of a plant, laid underground for growth.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Further reading

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Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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Old French layer, Frankish *lākan.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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layer

  1. (forestry, transitive) to trail a path in a forest

Conjugation

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This is a regular -er verb as far as pronunciation is concerned, but as with other verbs in -ayer (such as payer and essayer), the <y> of its stem may optionally be written as <i> when it precedes a silent <e> (compare verbs in -eyer, which never have this spelling change, and verbs in -oyer and -uyer, which always have it; verbs in -ayer belong to either group, according to the writer's preference).

Conjugation of layer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple layer
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple layant
/lɛ.jɑ̃/ or /le.jɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle layé
/lɛ.je/ or /le.je/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present laye or laie
/lɛj/ or /lɛ/ 		layes or laies
/lɛj/ or /lɛ/ 		laye or laie
/lɛj/ or /lɛ/ 		layons
/lɛ.jɔ̃/ or /le.jɔ̃/ 		layez
/lɛ.je/ or /le.je/ 		layent or laient
/lɛj/ or /lɛ/
imperfect layais
/lɛ.jɛ/ or /le.jɛ/ 		layais
/lɛ.jɛ/ or /le.jɛ/ 		layait
/lɛ.jɛ/ or /le.jɛ/ 		layions
/lɛj.jɔ̃/ 		layiez
/lɛj.je/ 		layaient
/lɛ.jɛ/ or /le.jɛ/
past historic2 layai
/lɛ.je/ or /le.je/ 		layas
/lɛ.ja/ or /le.ja/ 		laya
/lɛ.ja/ or /le.ja/ 		layâmes
/lɛ.jam/ or /le.jam/ 		layâtes
/lɛ.jat/ or /le.jat/ 		layèrent
/lɛ.jɛʁ/ or /le.jɛʁ/
future layerai or laierai
/lɛj.ʁe/ or /lɛ.ʁe/ or /le.ʁe/ 		layeras or laieras
/lɛj.ʁa/ or /lɛ.ʁa/ or /le.ʁa/ 		layera or laiera
/lɛj.ʁa/ or /lɛ.ʁa/ or /le.ʁa/ 		layerons or laierons
/lɛj.ʁɔ̃/ or /lɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /le.ʁɔ̃/ 		layerez or laierez
/lɛj.ʁe/ or /lɛ.ʁe/ or /le.ʁe/ 		layeront or laieront
/lɛj.ʁɔ̃/ or /lɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /le.ʁɔ̃/
conditional layerais or laierais
/lɛj.ʁɛ/ or /lɛ.ʁɛ/ or /le.ʁɛ/ 		layerais or laierais
/lɛj.ʁɛ/ or /lɛ.ʁɛ/ or /le.ʁɛ/ 		layerait or laierait
/lɛj.ʁɛ/ or /lɛ.ʁɛ/ or /le.ʁɛ/ 		layerions or laierions
/lɛ.jə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /le.jə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /lɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /le.ʁjɔ̃/ 		layeriez or laieriez
/lɛ.jə.ʁje/ or /le.jə.ʁje/ or /lɛ.ʁje/ or /le.ʁje/ 		layeraient or laieraient
/lɛj.ʁɛ/ or /lɛ.ʁɛ/ or /le.ʁɛ/
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present laye or laie
/lɛj/ or /lɛ/ 		layes or laies
/lɛj/ or /lɛ/ 		laye or laie
/lɛj/ or /lɛ/ 		layions
/lɛj.jɔ̃/ 		layiez
/lɛj.je/ 		layent or laient
/lɛj/ or /lɛ/
imperfect2 layasse
/lɛ.jas/ or /le.jas/ 		layasses
/lɛ.jas/ or /le.jas/ 		layât
/lɛ.ja/ or /le.ja/ 		layassions
/lɛ.ja.sjɔ̃/ or /le.ja.sjɔ̃/ 		layassiez
/lɛ.ja.sje/ or /le.ja.sje/ 		layassent
/lɛ.jas/ or /le.jas/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — laye or laie
/lɛj/ or /lɛ/ 		— layons
/lɛ.jɔ̃/ or /le.jɔ̃/ 		layez
/lɛ.je/ or /le.je/ 		—
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

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Further reading

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