layman

English

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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈleɪmən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪmən

Noun

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.

Antonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

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

Derived terms

• in layman's terms

Related terms

• laity

Translations

someone who is not an ordained cleric

• Afrikaans: leek
• Bulgarian: мирянин (bg) (mirjanin)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 俗家 (zh) (sújiā), (Christianity) 平信徒 (píngxìntú)

• Czech: laik (cs) m
• Danish: lægmand c, lægfolk c pl
• Dutch: leek (nl) m
• Esperanto: laiko
• Finnish: maallikko (fi)
• French: laïc (fr) m
• German: Laie (de) m
• Greek: λαϊκός (el) m (laïkós)
• Hungarian: laikus (hu)
• Icelandic: leikmaður m
• Irish: tuata m, neamheaglaiseach m
• Italian: laico (it), profano (it) m
• Japanese: 俗人 (ja) (ぞくじん, zokujin), (Christianity) 平信徒 (ひらしんと, hirashinto)
• Macedonian: ми́рјанин m (mírjanin)
• Manx: theayagh m
• Maori: reimana
• Middle English: lay man, lewed man
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lekmann m

  Nynorsk: lekmann m

• Old English: lǣwed m
• Polish: laik (pl) m
• Portuguese: laico (pt), leigo (pt)
• Romagnol: làic m, lêic m
• Russian: миря́нин (ru) m (mirjánin)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: световњак m, ла̀ик m

  Roman: svetovnjak (sh) m, làik (sh) m

• Slovak: laik m, laička f
• Spanish: laico (es) m, lego (es) m
• Swedish: lekman (sv) c
• Tibetan: མི་སྐུ (mi sku)

someone who is not a professional in a given field

• Bulgarian: любител (bg) m (ljubitel), лаик (bg) m (laik)
• Czech: laik (cs) m, amatér (cs) m
• Danish: lægmand c, lægfolk c pl
• Dutch: leek (nl) m
• Esperanto: laiko
• Finnish: maallikko (fi)
• French: profane (fr) m or f
• German: Laie (de) m
• Greek: ερασιτέχνης (el) m (erasitéchnis), ερασιτέχνις (el) f (erasitéchnis)
• Hebrew: הדיוט (he) m (hedyot)
• Hungarian: laikus (hu)
• Icelandic: leikmaður m
• Indonesian: awam (id)
• Irish: duine gan foghlaim m, gnáthdhuine m, tuata m
• Italian: profano (it) m
• Macedonian: љу́бител m (ljúbitel), ла́ик m (láik), дилета́нт m (diletánt)
• Manx: theayagh m
• Middle English: lewed man
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lekmann m

  Nynorsk: lekmann m

• Polish: laik (pl) m
• Portuguese: profano (pt) m, leigo (pt) m
• Russian: люби́тель (ru) m (ljubítelʹ), дилета́нт (ru) m (diletánt), неспециали́ст (ru) m (nespecialíst), профа́н (ru) m (profán)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ла̀ик m

  Roman: làik (sh) m

• Slovak: laik m, laička f, amatér m
• Spanish: profano (es) m, lego (es) m, aficionado (es) m
• Swedish: lekman (sv) c

Anagrams

• yalman