Word.ws English Dictionary

lain in state

lain in state is the past participle of lie in state.

Meaning of lie in state

Verb

lie in state (third-person singular simple present lies in state, present participle lying in state, simple past lay in state, past participle lain in state)

  1. (intransitive, such as a head of state) To be ceremonially placed in a state building after death to allow the public to pay their respects, often followed by a state funeral.
    • The body of the King was then taken to Westminster Hall to lie in state for three days.1952 April, “The Passing of King George VI”, in Railway Magazine, page 233

Questions about lain in state

What is lain in state the past participle of?
Lain in state is the past participle of lie in state.

Words near lain in state in the dictionary

  1. lain in
  2. lain in ambush
  3. lain in honor
  4. lain in one's throat
  5. lain in repose
  6. lain in state
  7. lain in the bed one had made
  8. lain in the way
  9. lain in wait
  10. lain low
  11. lain off

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lain in state (page history and authors); lie in state (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “lain in state.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lain_in_state. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.