overlay1

[v. oh-ver-ley; n. oh-ver-ley] /v. ˌoʊ vərˈleɪ; n. ˈoʊ vərˌleɪ/
verb (used with object), overlaid, overlaying.
1.
to lay or place (one thing) over or upon another.
2.
to cover, overspread, or surmount with something.
3.
to finish with a layer or applied decoration of something:
wood richly overlaid with gold.
4.
Printing. to put an overlay upon.
noun
5.
something laid over something else; covering.
6.
a layer or decoration of something applied:
an overlay of gold.
7.
Printing.
  1. a shaped piece of paper, or a sheet of paper reinforced at the proper places by shaped pieces, put on the tympan of a press to increase or equalize the impression.
  2. a method of preparing copy for multicolor printing, in which matter for each color is prepared on a transparent sheet that is placed over a key plate, usually the one to be printed in black.
  3. the sheet or sheets so prepared.
8.
a sheet of transparent paper placed over a photograph, a dummy, or other artwork for noting corrections, instructions, mechanical separations, etc.
9.
Computers. software or data in external storage and brought into main storage for execution by replacing or augmenting software or data already there.
10.
a transparent sheet giving special military information not ordinarily shown on maps, used by being placed over the map on which it is based.
11.
a decorative piece of leather or other material stitched on a shoe.
12.
Scot. a cravat.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English; see over-, lay1

overlay2

[oh-ver-ley] /ˌoʊ vərˈleɪ/
verb
1.
simple past tense of overlie.

overlie

[oh-ver-lahy] /ˌoʊ vərˈlaɪ/
verb (used with object), overlay, overlain, overlying.
1.
to lie over or upon, as a covering or stratum.
2.
to smother (an infant) by lying upon it, as in sleep.
Origin
1125-75; Middle English overlien, overliggen. See over-, lie2
Examples from the web for overlay
  • overlay back boards so they are flush and square with bottom of crosspiece and aligned on marks drawn on boards.
  • Never for an instant does it incrust the business,-as the rhetorician would do,-nor ever overlay it with decoration.
  • The underneath layer was a solid blue material, and it had a sheer blue overlay.
  • The astonishing thing is you do not even need to overlay real bars-even illusory ones will do.
  • Refinement and improvement of emission metrics would be an ongoing overlay process.
  • The tone is at once polite and arrogant, with a weird overlay of crackpot earnestness.
  • Dark matter cannot be photographed, but its distribution is shown in the blue overlay.
  • He hinted here and there that it was actually the large bureaucratic overlay that was going to wind up being obsolete.
  • overlay that how we're nurtured and the social environment within which we're raised.
  • There's a metaphysical overlay to this latticework of life stories that weaves us together.
British Dictionary definitions for overlay

overlay

verb (transitive) (ˌəʊvəˈleɪ) -lays, -laying, -laid
1.
to lay or place something over or upon (something else)
2.
(often foll by with) to cover, overspread, or conceal (with)
3.
(foll by with) to cover (a surface) with an applied decoration: ebony overlaid with silver
4.
to achieve the correct printing pressure all over (a forme or plate) by adding to the appropriate areas of the packing
noun (ˈəʊvəˌleɪ)
5.
something that is laid over something else; covering
6.
an applied decoration or layer, as of gold leaf
7.
a transparent sheet giving extra details to a map or diagram over which it is designed to be placed
8.
(printing) material, such as paper, used to overlay a forme or plate

overlie

/ˌəʊvəˈlaɪ/
verb (transitive) -lies, -lying, -lay, -lain
1.
to lie or rest upon Compare overlay
2.
to kill (a baby or newborn animal) by lying upon it
Word Origin and History for overlay
v.

"to cover the surface of (something)," c.1300, in part from Old English oferlecgan "to place over," also "to overburden," and in part from over- + lay (v.). There also was an overlie in Middle English, but it merged into this word. Similar compounds are found in other Germanic languages, e.g. Gothic ufarlagjan. Related: Overlaid; overlaying.

n.

in the printing sense, 1824, from overlay (v.). Meaning "transparent sheet over a map, chart, etc." is from 1938. In earliest noun use it meant "a necktie" (1725).

overlie

v.

late 12c., from over- + lie (v.2), or from an unrecorded Old English *oferlicgan. "In use from 12th to 16th c.; in 17-18th displaced by overlay; reintroduced in 19th c., chiefly in geological use." [OED]. Related: Overlay; overlain.