From Middle English leyen, leggen, from Old English leċġan, from Proto-West Germanic *laggjan, from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną ("to lay"), causative form of Proto-Germanic *ligjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-.
Cognate with West Frisian lizze ("to lay, to lie"), Dutch leggen ("to lay"), German legen ("to lay"), Norwegian Bokmål legge ("to lay"), Norwegian Nynorsk leggja ("to lay"), Swedish lägga ("to lay"), Icelandic leggja ("to lay"), Albanian lag ("troop, band, war encampment").
From Middle English laie, lawe, from Old English lagu ("sea, flood, water, ocean"), from Proto-West Germanic *lagu ("water, sea"), from Proto-Germanic *laguz ("water, sea"), from Proto-Indo-European *lókus ("water, body of water, lake"). Cognate with Icelandic lögur ("liquid, fluid, lake"), Latin lacus ("lake, hollow, hole").
From Middle English lay, from Old French lai, from Latin laicus, from Ancient Greek λαϊκός. laic.
From Middle English lay, from Old French lai ("song, lyric, poem"), from Frankish *laih, from Proto-Germanic *laikaz, *laikiz, from Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ("to jump, spring, play"). Akin to Old High German leih ("a play, skit, melody, song"), Middle High German leich ("piece of music, epic song played on a harp"), Old English lācan ("to move quickly, fence, sing"). See lake.
From Middle English lay, laye, laiȝe, leyȝe, from Old English lǣh, lēh, northern (Anglian) variants of Old English lēah. More at lea.
From Middle English laige, læȝe, variants of Middle English lawe. More at law.
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