underlay

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”).

• IPA^(key): /ʌndəɹˈleɪ/

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• Rhymes: -eɪ

underlay

1. simple past of underlie

underlay (third-person singular simple present underlays, present participle underlaying, simple past and past participle underlaid)

1. (transitive) To lay (something) underneath something else; to put under.
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. (mining, transitive, intransitive, of a vein, fault, or lode) To incline from the vertical.

   Synonym: hade

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈʌndəɹˌleɪ/
• Rhymes: -eɪ

underlay (plural underlays)

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. (printing, historical) A piece of paper pasted under woodcuts, stereotype plates, etc. in a form, to bring them up to the necessary level for printing.
5. (music) 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.

• Dunleary