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underlay

Pronunciation: /ʌndəɹˈleɪ/

The English word “underlay” has 9 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To lay (something) underneath something else; to put under.
  2. To provide a support for something; to raise or support by something laid under.
  3. To put a tap on (a shoe).
  4. To incline from the vertical.

noun

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

Etymology

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”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.