Word.ws English Dictionary

laic

US/ˈleɪ.ɪk/

laic noun: a layperson as opposed to a cleric, i.e. not a member of the clergy.

Noun

laic (plural laics)

  1. A layperson as opposed to a cleric, i.e. not a member of the clergy.
    • Laic and laicist derive from the same root. Why did their meanings diverge? What meaning do they share? Both apply to people who believe that the well-being of societies requires that religious doctrines and churches do not interfere with the functioning of the state. To the laic, this end is...2013 Ranjan Ghosh (ed.) Making sense of the secular. Chapter 3: How Do You Say 'Secular' in Italian? Edoardo Tortarolo. Pub. Routledge studies in religion p. 58. ISBN: 978-0-415-53695-0

Adjective

laic (comparative more laic, superlative most laic)

  1. Lay, relating to laypersons, as opposed to clerical.
    • And in conclusion it reflects to the disrepute of our ministers ... [that] they should still be frequented with such an unprincipled, unedified and laic rabble, as that the whiff of every new pamphlet should stagger them out of their catechism and Christian walking.1644, John Milton, Areopagitica

Synonyms of laic

Antonyms

Forms of laic

Noun
plurallaics
alternative form (obsolete)laick
Adjective
comparativemore laic
superlativemost laic

Origin of laic

From French laïque, from Latin lāicus (“common people”), from Ancient Greek λαός (laós). Doublet of lay.

Words formed from laic

Words that rhyme with laic

3 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about laic

What does laic mean?
Laic means a layperson as opposed to a cleric, i.e. not a member of the clergy.
What part of speech is laic?
Laic can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce laic?
Laic is pronounced /ˈleɪ.ɪk/ (US).
What is the plural of laic?
The plural of laic is laics.

Words near laic in the dictionary

  1. Laible
  2. Laibles
  3. laibon
  4. laibons
  5. Laibow
  6. laic
  7. laical
  8. laicalism
  9. laicality
  10. laically
  11. Laich-kwil-tach

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: laic (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-laic.wav.

Cite this entry: “laic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/laic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.