different between deny vs liar

English

Etymology

From Middle English denyen, from Old French denoier (“to deny, to repudiate”) (French dénier), from Latin denegare (“to deny, to refuse”), from de- (“away”) and negare (“to refuse”), the latter ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ne (“no, not”). Doublet of denegate.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d??na?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /d??na?/, /d?-/
• Rhymes: -a?
• Hyphenation: de?ny

Verb

deny (third-person singular simple present denies, present participle denying, simple past and past participle denied)

1. (transitive) To disallow or reject.
2. (transitive) To assert that something is not true.
3. (ditransitive) To refuse to give or grant something to someone.
   • 1754, Jonathan Edwards, An Inquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notions Respecting that Freedom of the Will which is supposed to be Essential to Moral Agency

     To some men, it is more agreeable to deny a vicious inclination, than to gratify it.
4. To take something away from someone; to deprive of.
5. (sports, transitive) To prevent from scoring.
6. To disclaim connection with, responsibility for, etc.; to refuse to acknowledge; to disown; to abjure; to disavow.
   • 1834-1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent.

     the falsehood of denying his opinion

   • 1827, John Keble, The Christian Year

     thou thrice denied, yet thrice beloved

7. (obsolete) To refuse (to do or accept something).

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs.
• Deny can have a connotation that the denial is false; he denied knowing the accused has a more suspicious tone than he said he did not know the accused. However, in some formal usages, e.g. medical records, it can have a more neutral sense (patient denies chest pain).
• See refute.

Conjugation

Synonyms

• (assert something is not true): gainsay, contradict, withsay, refute, disclaim

Antonyms

• (disallow): allow
• (assert something is true): confirm, affirm

Derived terms

• deniability
• denier
• justice delayed is justice denied

Related terms

• denial

Translations

Anagrams

• E.D.N.Y., Ynde, dyne

English

Alternative forms

• lyar (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English lier, liere, lyere, li?er, lie?er, legher, from Old English l?gere, l?ogere (“liar, false witness, hypocrite”), from Old English l?ogan (“to lie, deceive, belie, betray, be in error, charge falsely”), equivalent to lie +? -er. Cognate with Old High German liog?ri, liug?ri ("liar"; > Middle High German liegære, lieger (“liar”) > archaic German Lüger (“liar”)), Old Norse ljúgari ("liar"; > Icelandic lygari (“liar”)). Compare also German Lügner (“liar”), Swedish lögnare (“liar”). More at lie.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?la?.?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?la?.?/
• Rhymes: -a?.?(?)
• Homophones: lyre, lier
• Hyphenation: li?ar

Noun

liar (plural liars)

1. One who tells lies.
2. (nautical, obsolete) A swabber responsible for cleaning the outside parts of the ship rather than the cabins, a role traditionally assigned to a person caught telling a lie the previous week.
   • 1703, Sir William Monson, Sir William Monson's Naval Tracts in Six Books (page 348)

     The Swabber is to keep the Cabbins, and all the Rooms of the Ship clean within board, and the Liar to do the like without board. The Liar holds his Place but for a week; and he that is first taken with a Lie upon a Monday morning, […] for that week he is under the Swabber, and meddles not with making clean the Ship within board, but without.

   • 2005, Caleb H. Johnson, The Mayflower and Her Passengers (page 35)

     The swabber, perhaps the lowliest position on the ship, was responsible for cleaning the decks. By tradition, each Monday a new crewmember was appointed the liar—the first person caught telling a lie the previous week.

Translations

Anagrams

• Lair, aril, lair, lari, lira, rail, rial

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin lig?re, present active infinitive of lig?, possibly through the intermediate of Old French lier in the Middle Ages, as it appeared relatively late in Spanish texts. See also the doublet ligar, a semi-learned term, as well as the inherited Old Spanish form legar (“to tie, bind”) (in modern Spanish, this word survives as a rare regionalism, often with a specialized sense such as "tie or bind a sheep for shearing", or "to join together, unite").

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lja?/, [?lja?]

Verb

liar (first-person singular present lío, first-person singular preterite lie, past participle liado)

1. to bind, tie
2. to wrap, wrap up
3. to roll (a cigarette)
4. (colloquial) to deceive, confuse
5. (reflexive, colloquial, Spain) to french, snog, make out

Conjugation

Derived terms

References

Swedish

Noun

liar

1. indefinite plural of lie

Anagrams

• ilar, lira