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 of layman

• amateur
• 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

The pipeline will provide up to 185,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas, an industry term that Fore admitted was difficult to explain for laymen. —Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 30 Jan. 2026

From my layman’s perspective, this seemed promising, plus the attorney seemed invested. —Jasper Craven, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026

That's very hard to explain for the layman or the professional. —Pamela Avila, USA Today, 11 Jan. 2026

So these two feel like the perfect guides to help a layman understand the Musk phenomenon. —Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing layman

• layman's terms

Rhymes for layman

• cayman
• daimon
• damon
• haman
• laymen
• maimon
• shaman
• stamen
• wayman
• yamen
• zaman
• cyclamen

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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