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underlay

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underlay¹

  • /ʌndəɹˈleɪ/

Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

From Middle English underleyen, from Old English underleċġan (“to underlay, prop, support”), equivalent to under- + lay. Cognate with Dutch onderleggen (“to lay or put under”), German unterlegen (“to underlay”), Swedish underlägga (“to underlay”).

verb

  1. past simple past of underlie

verb underlays · underlaying · underlaid

  1. transitive To lay (something) underneath something else; to put under. We underlaid the carpet with felt.
  2. transitive To provide a support for something; to raise or support by something laid under. to underlay a cut, plate, or the like, for printing
  3. transitive To put a tap on (a shoe).
  4. ambitransitive, of a vein To incline from the vertical.

    Similar: hade

underlay²

  • /ˈʌndəɹˌleɪ/

Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

From Middle English underlay, underlei, equivalent to under- + lay.

noun underlays

  1. countable, uncountable A layer (of earth, etc.) that lies under another; substratum.
  2. countable, uncountable A soft floor covering that lies under a carpet.
  3. countable, uncountable Anything that is underlaid.
  4. countable, historical, uncountable A piece of paper pasted under woodcuts, stereotype plates, etc. in a form, to bring them up to the necessary level for printing.
  5. countable, uncountable Lyrics; or more specifically, the way in which lyrics are assigned to musical notes. The underlay in bar 3 is unclear in Handel's manuscript.

Translations

Every language

noun soft floor covering under carpet

中文地毯襯墊 /地毯衬垫 dìtǎn chèndiàn
Françaissous-couche
Русскийподсти́лка podstílka, подкла́дка podkládka, подсло́й podslój, основа́ние osnovánije

noun anything underlaid

中文襯底 /衬底 chèndǐ, 襯墊物 /衬垫物 chèndiànwù
Русскийподсти́лка podstílka, подкла́дка podkládka

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Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{underlay_2026,
  title = {underlay},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/underlay},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}