layer

Meaning

Noun

1. A single thickness of some material covering a surface.
2. A single thickness of some material covering a surface.
3. A (usually) horizontal deposit; a stratum.
4. One of the items in a hierarchy.
5. One in a stack of (initially transparent) drawing surfaces that comprise an image; used to keep elements of an image separate so that they can be modified independently from one another.
6. One of the seven network switch pieces in the Open Systems Interconnection model: application, presentation, session, transport, network, data link, and physical.
7. An alternative keymap accessed through a modifier key or toggle.

Verb

1. (ambitransitive) To cut or divide into layers.
2. (ambitransitive) To arrange in layers.

Synonyms

stratum

bed

🛏️

tier

level

floor

coat

🧥

coating

sheet

storey

seam

thickness

ply

pile

covering

couch

🛋️

film

📽️

mat

stack

class

overlay

rock

🪨

laying hen

fold

flake

stream

lining

terrace

stratify

story

step

stratification

row

horizon

separate

plane

pleat

thick layer

glaze

froth

course

formation

castrate

cord

litter

even

compose

blanket

lode

band

lift

Translations

couche

🛏️

Schicht

capa

laag

strato

Lage

camada

capa

στρώμα

estrato

schichten

tabaka

طبقة

gisement

Pronounced as (IPA)

/lɛə/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: leyer

In summary

Appears at first glance to be from Middle English leyer, leyare (“a layer of stones or bricks”), equivalent to lay + -er. In which case, ultimately identical to etymology 2 below. For the pronunciation compare prayer.
However, this word layer (referring to a thickness of a material covering a surface) has also been argued to be from a respelling of an obsolete sense of the word lair that was once used by farmers, which had to do with soil. The connecting sense between the usual meaning of lair and the specialised farming meaning was: an area where cows typically rest, the ground being fertilised by their waste. Related to lie, ledger.

Sentences

The difference is that here the " thin film " is a thin layer of air .