Meaning

• A single thickness of some material covering a surface.

  "After the first coat of paint dried, he applied another layer."

• A (usually) horizontal deposit; a stratum.

  "I find seven-layer cake a bit too rich."

• One of the items in a hierarchy.

  "mired in layers of deceit"

• (by analogy to a stack of transparencies) 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.

Meaning

• To cut or divide (something) into layers

• To arrange (something) in layers.

  "Layer the ribbons on top of one another to make an attractive pattern."