layman
noun/ˈleɪmən/
Etymology 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”).
1
Layperson, someone who is not an ordained cleric or member of the clergy.
2
Broadly 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.
1 more example
- The layman, perhaps, is not fully aware to what extent even the popular reputations of scientists and scholars are made by that class and are inevitably affected by its views on subjects which have little to do with the merits of the real achievements.1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 419:
3
A common person.
4
A person who is untrained or lacks knowledge of a subject.
- should he be held to be just a layman, or does he have some art?2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 221d:
5
Lay-sister or lay-brother, person received into a convent of monks, following the vows, but not being member of the order.
- Derived terms
- in layman's terms, laymanism, laymanize, laymanship
- Related terms
- laity