also lay-out, "configuration, arrangement," 1852, from the verbal phrase; see lay (v.) + out (adv.). Meaning "rough design of a printing job" is from 1910. The verbal phrase is attested from c. 1400 as "expose to view, show, set forth;" mid-15c. as "to expend, lavish." The meaning "prepare (a corpse) for burial" is from 1590s and is said to be the source of the figurative sense "knock out; kill."