Word.ws English Dictionary

lay in state

lay in state is the simple past 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 lay in state

What is lay in state the simple past of?
Lay in state is the simple past of lie in state.

Words near lay in state in the dictionary

  1. lay in ashes
  2. lay in honor
  3. lay in lavender
  4. lay in one's throat
  5. lay in repose
  6. lay in state
  7. lay in the bed one had made
  8. lay in the way
  9. lay in wait
  10. lay into
  11. lay investiture

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lay 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.

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