layer.
A single thickness of some material covering a surface.
Meaning & usage
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.
A single thickness of some material covering a surface. 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.
A (usually) horizontal deposit; a stratum.
I find seven-layer cake a bit too rich.
One of the items in a hierarchy.
mired in layers of deceit
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.
One of the seven network switch pieces in the Open Systems Interconnection model: application, presentation, session, transport, network, data link, and physical.
An alternative keymap accessed through a modifier key or toggle.
Where this word comes from
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 etymology 2 below. For the pronunciation compare prayer. However, this word layer (referring to a thickness of a material covering a surface) has also 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.
To cut or divide into layers.
To arrange in layers.
Layer the ribbons on top of one another to make an attractive pattern.
Where this word comes from
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 etymology 2 below. For the pronunciation compare prayer. However, this word layer (referring to a thickness of a material covering a surface) has also 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.
A person who lays anything, such as tiles or a wager.
A mature female bird, insect, etc. that is able to lay eggs.
As for which hen we'll cull for next Sunday's dinner, we certainly won't eat Henrietta yet — she's still a prime layer.
When dealing with an infestation of headlice, the first step is to eliminate the layers.
A mature female bird, insect, etc. that is able to lay eggs. A hen kept to lay eggs; a breed of chicken bred to maximize laying output.
We keep a flock of layers and flock of broilers.
A shoot of a plant, laid underground for growth.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Old English læġ English lay English -er English layer From lay + -er.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.