Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “overlain” come from?

Overlain comes from English overlie, from Middle English lie, from Middle French lien, from Latin ligō meaning to bind or tie.

overlain (English): past participle of overlie

Definitions

  1. past participle of overlie

Ancestry of “overlain”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishoverlieTo lie over or upon; To suffocate by lying upon
2Englishover-above, or higher; superior; excessively
3Middle Englishover-—
4Old Englishofer-used to form nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs...
5Proto-Germanicuberover; over, above
6Proto-Indo-Europeanupérabove; over
7Proto-Indo-Europeanupóunder, below
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃ewp-—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃ewp- →