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giacere

to lie, to be lying down

verb jah-CHEH-reh Rare

Origin: From Latin jacere, 'to lie'.

Usage Note

Giacere is a literary or formal verb for being horizontally at rest or for a corpse lying somewhere. It uses essere as its auxiliary: è giaciuto. In everyday speech stare sdraiato is more natural. Qui giace… ('Here lies…') is the classic epitaph formula.

Examples

"Il ferito giaceva immobile sul pavimento."

Natural Translation

The injured man lay motionless on the floor.

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