Lain

//leɪn// name, verb, slang

name, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”) form-of, participle, past

    "He had lain there for many hours."

  2. 2
    To conceal, keep quiet about. obsolete

    "Also broder sir Agrauayne and sir mordred in lyke wyse sir Launcelot rescowed yow bothe and thre score and two from sir Turquyn / Me thynketh broder suche kynde dedes and kyndenes shold be remembryd / doo as ye lyst sayd syr Agrauayne for I wylle layne it no lenger"

  3. 3
    past participle of lay (“to put down”) colloquial, form-of, participle, past
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
laid

Example

More examples

"This is the first time I've ever lain on this grass."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Inflected forms.

Etymology 2

From Middle English lainen, leynen, from Old Norse leyna (“to conceal”) and Old English līeġnan (“to deny; conceal”); both from Proto-Germanic *laugnijaną, from Proto-Germanic *laugnō (“secrecy”).

More for "lain"

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Editorial Guides For "lain"

Lay vs Lie: A Practical Tense Guide

Use lay and lie correctly in present and past tense without memorizing grammar tables.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.