layer

== English == === Etymology 1 === 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 etymology 2 below. For the pronunciation compare prayer. However, this word layer (referring to a thickness of a material covering a surface) has also 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. ==== Pronunciation ==== (General American) IPA(key): /ˈleɪ̯ɚ/, [ˈleɪ̯ɚ] ~ [ˈleɪ̯ɹ̩], sometimes IPA(key): /ˈlɛɹ/ (UK) (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈleɪ.ə/, [ˈleɪ̯.ə], sometimes IPA(key): /ˈlɛə/, [ˈlɛə̯] ~ [ˈlɛː] (Standard Southern British) IPA(key): /ˈlɛː/ (Lancashire, fair–fur merger) IPA(key): /ˈlɜː(ɹ)/ (Scotland) IPA(key): /ˈleɾ/, [ˈleːɾ] (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈleː/ (New Zealand, without the cheer–chair merger) IPA(key): /ˈleə/, (cheer–chair merger) IPA(key): /ˈliə/ Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ), -eɪə(ɹ) Homophone: lair (some pronunciations) ==== Noun ==== layer (plural layers) A single thickness of some material covering a surface. An item of clothing worn under or over another. A (usually) horizontal deposit; a stratum. One of the items in a hierarchy. (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. (networking) One of the seven network switch pieces in the Open Systems Interconnection model: application, presentation, session, transport, network, data link, and physical. (computing) An alternative keymap accessed through a modifier key or toggle. ===== Synonyms ===== (single thickness): lay (obsolete) (stratum): stratum ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== layer (third-person singular simple present layers, present participle layering, simple past and past participle layered) (ambitransitive) To cut or divide into layers. (ambitransitive) To arrange in layers. ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === From lay + -er. ==== Pronunciation ==== (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈleɪ.ə/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈleɪ.ɚ/ Rhymes: -eɪə(ɹ) ==== Noun ==== layer (plural layers) A person who lays anything, such as tiles or a wager. A mature female bird, insect, etc. that is able to lay eggs. A hen kept to lay eggs; a breed of chicken bred to maximize laying output. Coordinate terms: broiler, fryer, roaster, stewer A shoot of a plant, laid underground for growth. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Further reading === “layer”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “layer”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. === Anagrams === Arely, Arley, Early, Leary, Raley, Rayle, early, leary, re-lay, relay == French == === Etymology === Old French layer, Frankish *lākan. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /lɛ.je/ ~ /le.je/ === Verb === layer (forestry, transitive) to trail a path in a forest ==== Conjugation ==== 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). ==== Derived terms ==== laie layeur === Further reading === “layer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012