Adjacent Words

Layman definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LA'YMAN, n. la'man. [lay and man.]
1. A man who is not a clergyman; one of the laity or people, distinct from the clergy.
2. An image used by painters in contriving attitudes.
3. A lay-clerk.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: someone who is not a clergyman or a professional person [syn: layman, layperson, secular] [ant: clergyman, man of the cloth, reverend]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 15th century 1. a person who is not a member of the clergy 2. a person who does not belong to a particular profession or who is not expert in some field

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -men; fem. laywoman, pl. -women) 1 any non-ordained member of a Church. 2 a person without professional or specialized knowledge in a particular subject.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Layman Lay"mann.; pl. Laymen. [Lay, adj. + man.] 1. One of the people, in distinction from the clergy; one of the laity; sometimes, a man not belonging to some particular profession, in distinction from those who do.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(laymen) 1. A layman is a person who is not trained, qualified, or experienced in a particular subject or activity. The mere mention of the words 'heart failure', can conjure up, to the layman, the prospect of imminent death... ? expert N-COUNT 2. A layman is a man who is involved with the Christian church but is not a member of the clergy or a monk. In 1932, one Boston layman wrote to Archbishop William O'Connell in support of Father Coughlin. N-COUNT