layman

noun

lay·​man ˈlā-mən 

1

: a person who is not a member of the clergy

The parish council consisted of both clergy and laymen.

2

: a person who does not belong to a particular profession or who is not expert in some field

For a layman, he knows a lot about the law.

Did you know?

Layman is a closed compound of lay man. Lay is an adjective that means "of or relating to the people of a religious faith (but not of its clergy)." The origins of lay and layman go back to Greek laikos, meaning "of the people." Layman was originally used to distinguish between non-clerical people and the clergy before being used to distinguish non-professionals from professionals in a field (such as law or medicine).

Synonyms

• amateur
• dabbler
• dilettante
• hobbyist
• nonexpert
• nonprofessional
• potterer
• putterer
• tinkerer

Examples of layman in a Sentence

For a layman, he knows a lot about the law.

He's an important layman in his church.

Recent Examples on the Web

While a layman might initially believe finding the whereabouts of a high-ranking business figure would be difficult, a few quick Google searches could easily yield such information, according to D’Amico. —Steve Kopack, NBC News, 4 Dec. 2024

In layman’s terms: more than a million bathtubs too many. —Charles Bethea, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2024

Their argument becomes harder to make when the results continue to disappoint in similar ways, at least to the layman’s eye. —Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun, 18 Nov. 2024

In layman’s terms, with the hair follicle destroyed, hair cannot grow. —Iman Balagam, Vogue, 22 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing layman

• layman's terms

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Kids Definition

layman

noun

lay·​man ˈlā-mən 

: a person who is not a member of the clergy or a member of a particular profession