Relaid

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Laid again or set down a second time, as with cables, tiles or track that has been put back in place
2. Placed anew after having been taken up, such as flooring, paving or a carpet that has been relaid
3. Set down once more in a fresh arrangement, especially of underlying materials like pipes, wires or turf

Etymology: "Relaid" is simply the past tense and past participle of "relay," so the story belongs to the verb. "Relay" came into English from Middle French "relai," which named a fresh pack of hounds brought in to replace tired ones during a hunt. The French verb behind it, "relaier," meant to exchange worn-out animals for fresh ones, and its literal sense was "to leave behind." That literal sense is built from two parts: the prefix "re-," meaning back or again, and "laier," meaning to leave. The second part traces back to the same ancient root that gave English the verb "lay" and the Old English "lecgan," so "relay" is a close relative of "lay," not a distant cousin. The English verb "lay" has the same origin, which is why the two words share a family resemblance. The hunting sense gradually loosened into the general idea of passing something along in stages, which is how the word now describes a race in which runners hand over a baton, or a message sent on from one station to the next.

Synonyms: retransmit, rebroadcast, transmit, pass on