overlay

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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

overlay^¹

/ˌəʊ.vəˈleɪ/ UK
/ˌoʊvɚˈleɪ/ US
/ˈəʊ.vəˌleɪ/ UK
/ˈoʊvɚˌleɪ/ US

Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

From Middle English overleyen, from Old English oferleċġan, from Proto-West Germanic *obarlaggjan, from Proto-Germanic *uberlagjaną, equivalent to over- + lay. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uurläze, úurlääse, Dutch overleggen, German Low German overleggen, överleggen, German überlegen, Swedish överlägga, Norwegian overlegge. Compare overlie.

verb overlays · overlaying · overlaid · overlayed

transitive To lay, spread, or apply (something) over or across (something else); to overspread. Near-synonyms: cover, superimpose, superpose
Similar: cover, superimpose, superpose
To overwhelm; to press excessively upon. when any country is overlaid by the multitude which live upon it
archaic, transitive To lie over (someone, especially a child) in order to smother it; to suffocate. And this womans childe died in the night: because she ouerlaid it.
transitive To put an overlay on.
transitive To bet too much money on. […] he has 'overlaid' his book, and has not succeeded in 'getting round' by bets against the other horses.

noun overlays

An image to be overlaid on another; a superimposition or diapositive.
A piece of paper pasted upon the tympan sheet to improve the impression by making it stronger at a particular place.
Odds which are set higher than expected or warranted. Favorable odds.
A horse going off at higher odds than it appears to warrant, based on its past performances.
A decal attached to a computer keyboard to relabel the keys. The keyboard overlay can be a memory jogger and a great help with spelling. In this way the keyboard makes word processing more accessible to younger as well as special needs children.
Similar: keystrip
A block of program code that is loaded over something previously loaded, so as to replace the functionality. This concept can be extended further by allowing a primary overlay to call a secondary overlay, and so on. However, we will limit ourselves here to the use of primary overlays. Before proceeding further, you need to understand the memory map of the computer, which is a diagram showing the use to whi
Internet A pop-up covering an existing part of the display.
Scotland A cravat.
A covering over something else. The first, on January 1, 1883, was attributed to the overlay becoming surcharged with water, due to insufficient drainage, and causing a slip.

overlay^²

verb

past simple past of overlie

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: cover, sheathing, overlayer, overlap, overlapping, surface, covering, liner, lining, layering, layer, coating, veneer, collection, superimposition, superimpose

Translations

Every language

verb to lay, or [[spread]], something over or across; to [[cover]]

Español	recubrir
日本語	乗せる noseru, 被せる kabuseru, 覆う ōu
Português	revestir, aplicar

verb to smother with a close covering, or by lying upon

日本語	乗せる noseru, 被せる kabuseru, 覆う ōu

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Cite this

MLA

"overlay." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/overlay. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

overlay. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/overlay

Chicago

"overlay." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/overlay.

BibTeX

@misc{overlay_2026,
  title = {overlay},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/overlay},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}