layman

From Middle English layman, lay man, equivalent to lay (“non-clergy”) +‎ man. Cognate with Old Frisian lēkmann, lēkmonn (“layman”), obsolete Dutch leekeman (“layman”), Old High German leihman (“layman”), Danish lægmand (“layman”), Swedish lekman (“layman”), Norwegian lekmann (“layman”), Icelandic leikmaður (“layman”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈleɪmən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪmən

layman (plural laymen)

1. Layperson, someone who is not an ordained cleric or member of the clergy.
2. (by extension) Someone who is not a professional in a given field.

   Carmen is not a professional anthropologist, but strictly a layman.

   Let me explain it to you in layman's terms.

3. A common person.
4. A person who is untrained or lacks knowledge of a subject.
   • 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 221d:

     should he be held to be just a layman, or does he have some art?

5. Lay-sister or lay-brother, person received into a convent of monks, following the vows, but not being member of the order.

• cleric
• priest
• monk
• friar
• expert
• specialist
• professional

• in layman's terms

• laity

• yalman