belay

See also: Belay

English

The woman in yellow is belaying a climber (not pictured)

Etymology 1

From Middle English beleggen, bileggen, from Old English beleċġan (“to cover, invest, surround, afflict, attribute to, charge with, accuse”), From Proto-West Germanic *bilaggjan, equivalent to be- (“about, around”) +‎ lay. Cognate with Dutch beleggen (“to cover, overlay, belay”), German belegen (“to cover, occupy, belay”), Swedish belägga (“to pave”).

Pronunciation

• Verb:
  • (US) IPA^(key): /bɪˈleɪ/
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbiːleɪ/, /bɪˈleɪ/

    • Audio (Southern England)

      (file)

  • Rhymes: -eɪ, (UK) -iːleɪ
• Noun:
  • IPA^(key): /ˈbiːleɪ/

    • Audio (Southern England)

      (file)

  • Rhymes: -iːleɪ

Verb

belay (third-person singular simple present belays, present participle belaying, simple past and past participle belayed or belaid)

1. (transitive, intransitive, nautical) To make (a rope) fast by turning it around a fastening point such as a cleat.
2. (transitive, climbing) To handle a climbing rope to prevent (a climber) from falling to the ground.

   He would need an experienced partner to belay him on the difficult climbs.

3. (transitive) To lay aside; stop; cancel.

   I could only hope the remaining piton would belay his fall.

   Belay that order!

4. (intransitive, nautical) The general command to stop or cease.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To surround; environ; enclose.
6. (transitive, obsolete) To overlay; adorn.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 5:

     jacket […] belayd with silver lace

7. (transitive, obsolete) To besiege; invest; surround.
8. (transitive, obsolete) To lie in wait for in order to attack; block up or obstruct.

Derived terms

• belay my last

Translations

to make fast by turning around a fastening point

• Bulgarian: навивам (bg) (navivam), притягам (bg) (pritjagam)
• Finnish: kiinnittää (fi)
• Italian: dare volta, assicurare (it)
• Ukrainian: закріпи́ти (zakripýty)

to handle a climbing rope

• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} осигурявам (bg) (osigurjavam)
• Dutch: zekeren (nl)
• French: assurer (fr)
• German: sichern (de)
• Italian: assicurare (it)
• Russian: страхова́ть (ru) impf (straxovátʹ), подстрахо́вывать (ru) impf (podstraxóvyvatʹ), подстрахова́ть (ru) pf (podstraxovátʹ)
• Swedish: säkra (sv)
• Ukrainian: страхува́ти (straxuváty), підстрахо́вувати (pidstraxóvuvaty)

general command to stop

• Bulgarian: стига (bg) (stiga), стоп (stop)
• German: beenden (de)
• Russian: отставить (ru) (otstavitʹ)
• Ukrainian: відста́вити (vidstávyty)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ido: ^{(please verify)} amaragar (io)

Noun

belay (plural belays)

1. (climbing) The securing of a rope to a rock or other projection.
2. (climbing) The object to which a rope is secured.
3. (climbing) A location at which a climber stops and builds an anchor with which to secure their partner.
   • 1967, Anthony Greenbank, Instructions in Mountaineering, page 84:

     But instead of swapping over at the ice axe belay, you carry on in the lead, cutting or kicking steps until you are about twenty feet above.

Derived terms

• belay device

See also

• Belaying on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪˈleɪ/
• Rhymes: -eɪ

Verb

belay

1. simple past of belie (“encompass”)

References

• “belay”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “belay”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Baley, Leyba