different between layer vs overlay

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /l??/, (spelling pronunciation) /le?.?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?le?.?/
• Rhymes: -??(?), -e??(?)
• Homophone: lair (one pronunciation)

Etymology 1

Appears at first glance to be from Middle English leyer, leyare (“a layer of stones or bricks”), equivalent to lay +? -er. In which case, ultimately identical to the other word below that is also spelt layer.

However, this word layer (referring to a thickness of a material covering a surface) has long been argued to be from a respelling of an obsolete sense of the word lair that was once used by farmers, which had to do with soil. The connecting sense between the usual meaning of lair and the specialised farming meaning was: an area where cows typically rest, the ground being fertilised by their waste. Related to lie, ledger.

Noun

layer (plural layers)

1. A single thickness of some material covering a surface.

   Wrap the loaf in two layers of aluminum foil before putting it in the oven.

   After the first coat of paint dried, he applied another layer.

   1. An item of clothing worn under or over another.

      It's cold now but it will warm up this afternoon. Make sure you wear layers.

2. A (usually) horizontal deposit; a stratum.

   I find seven-layer cake a bit too rich.

3. One of the items in a hierarchy.

   mired in layers of deceit

   • 2001, C/C++ Users Journal (volume 19, page 38)

     Right above the database access layer sits a number cruncher that performs any calculations that a particular request may require, such as computing a standard deviation. In many cases, this layer just forwards raw numbers.

4. (computer graphics, by analogy to a stack of transparencies) one in a stack of (initially transparent) drawing surfaces that comprise an image; used to keep elements of an image separate so that they can be modified independently from one another.

Synonyms

• (single thickness): lay (obsolete)
• (stratum): stratum

Derived terms

• boundary layer
• orchestration layer
• ozone layer

Translations

Verb

layer (third-person singular simple present layers, present participle layering, simple past and past participle layered)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To cut or divide into layers.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To arrange in layers.

   Layer the ribbons on top of one another to make an attractive pattern.

Translations

Etymology 2

lay +? -er

Noun

layer (plural layers)

1. A person who lays anything, such as tiles or a wager.
   • 1890, The Argosy (volume 49, page 183)

     If fortune ever favoured any venturesome layer of bets, Tom Elliot was certainly the one that day.

2. A mature female bird, insect, etc. that is able to lay eggs.

   When dealing with an infestation of headlice, the first step is to eliminate the layers.

3. A hen kept to lay eggs.
4. A shoot of a plant, laid underground for growth.

Translations

Derived terms

• minelayer
• tracklayer

Further reading

• layer in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• layer in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Arely, Arley, Early, Leary, Raley, Rayle, early, leary, re-lay, relay

English

Etymology 1

over- +? lay. Compare overlie.

Pronunciation

Verb

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ?'v?-l??, IPA^(key): /???.v??le?/
• (General American) enPR: ?'v?r-l??, IPA^(key): /?o?v??le?/

Noun

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ??v?-l?', IPA^(key): /???.v??le?/
• (General American) enPR: ??v?r-l?', IPA^(key): /?o?v??le?/
• Rhymes: -e?

Verb

overlay (third-person singular simple present overlays, present participle overlaying, simple past and past participle overlaid or overlayed)

1. (transitive) To lay, spread, or apply something over or across; cover.
2. To overwhelm; to press excessively upon.
   • c. 1610?, Walter Raleigh, A Discourse of War

     when any country is overlaid by the multitude which live upon it

3. (transitive, now rare, archaic) To lie over (someone, especially a child) in order to smother it; to suffocate. [from 14th c.]
   • 1692, John Dryden, Cleomenes, the Spartan Hero, a Tragedy

     a heap of ashes that o'erlays your fire

   • 1993, Pat Barker, The Eye in the Door, Penguin 2014 (The Regeneration Trilogy), p. 371:

     Prostitutes, thieves, girls who ‘overlaid’ their babies, abortionists who stuck their knitting needles into something vital – did they really need to be here?

4. (transitive, printing) To put an overlay on.

Translations

Noun

overlay (plural overlays)

1. (printing) A piece of paper pasted upon the tympan sheet to improve the impression by making it stronger at a particular place.
2. (gambling) Odds which are set higher than expected or warranted. Favorable odds.
3. (horse racing) A horse going off at higher odds than it appears to warrant, based on its past performances.
4. A decal attached to a computer keyboard to relabel the keys.
5. (programming) A block of program code that is loaded over something previously loaded, so as to replace the functionality.
6. (Internet) A pop-up covering an existing part of the display.
7. (Scotland) A cravat.

Translations

Etymology 2

Verb

overlay

1. simple past tense of overlie

Anagrams

• lay over, layover