to lay to one's charge
Preserved but no longer current.
To attribute an offence to a person. And he [Stephen] kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord lay not this sin to their charge — Acts, vii, 60. The phrase occurs again in the Bible, e.g. Deut. xxi, 8; Rom. viii, 33, etc.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to lay to one's charge” mean?
To attribute an offence to a person. And he [Stephen] kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord lay not this sin to their charge — Acts, vii, 60. The phrase occurs again in the Bible, e.g. Deut. xxi, 8; Rom. viii, 33, etc.
Is “to lay to one's charge” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.