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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. inherited from layman

Definitions

  1. Layperson, someone who is not an ordained cleric or member of the clergy.

  2. 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|in layman's terms]].

  3. A common person.

  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. 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?

    2. Lay-sister or lay-brother, person received into a convent of monks, following the vows,…

      Lay-sister or lay-brother, person received into a convent of monks, following the vows, but not being member of the order.

    3. A surname.

The neighborhood

Derived

in layman's terms, laymanism, laymanize, laymanship

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at layman. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01layman02clergy03service04individual05legal06lawyers07lawyer

A definitional loop anchored at layman. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at layman

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA