unlaid
9.9
A spirit not buried that still haunts people
- adjective
- Archaic
:
no enterrado
- After his sudden death, his spirit was left unlaid, haunting the family home.
Examples
-
The restless ghost wandered the halls, its grievances still unlaid.
-
The tension in the room remained unlaid as they continued to argue.
-
His curious fancy alone remained unlaid when he came to himself.
Synonyms
unburied
vsunlaid
3
7.4
Left on the ground after death and not covered by dirt
refers to spirits or unsettled remains needing burial or appeasement
How Settled
Surface Forms
unlaid positive
Morphology
unlaid = laid (semi-transparent) = un + laid
Formally 'un-' + 'laid' is clear, but the sense relies on the idiom 'laid to rest' (buried/settled), making the meaning less directly predictable to learners.
Etymology
Unlaid comes from the prefix un- meaning 'not' and laid, from the verb 'to lay', which can mean 'to put to rest' or 'bury'. In old stories a person who was not 'laid' had not been buried or calmed, so an unlaid spirit is one that is not at rest.