layman
/ˈleɪmən/
layman noun: layperson, someone who is not an ordained cleric or member of the clergy.
Noun
layman (plural laymen)
- Layperson, someone who is not an ordained cleric or member of the clergy.
- 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]].
- Antonyms:
- professional
- A common person.
- 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?2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 221d
- Antonyms:
- expert, specialist
- Lay-sister or lay-brother, person received into a convent of monks, following the vows, but not being member of the order.
Proper noun capitalized: Layman
Layman (plural Laymans)
- A surname.
layman meaning in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Indonesian
layman in Tamil
- எளிய, எளிய மாந்தர், சிறப்பறிவு இல்லாதவன், பொதுமக்களில் ஒருவன், சாமானியன்
layman in Malayalam
- someone who is not an ordained cleric
- അൽമായൻ almāyaṉ
layman in Kannada
- ಜನಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ, ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಮನುಷ್ಯ, ಲೌಕಿಕ, ದೀಕ್ಷೆ ಪಡೆಯದ ಸದಸ್ಯ, ಶ್ರೀಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ, ನಾಡಾಡಿ
layman in Indonesian
- someone who is not a professional in a given field
- awam
Examples of layman in a sentence
- I would rather hire a talented layman than a university graduate with borderline qualifications.
- The tone of the paper strikes a happy medium between layman approachability and technical accuracy.
- The phrasing of the new law is not overclear to a layman.
Antonyms of layman
Forms of layman
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | laymen |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Laymans |
Origin of layman
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”).
Words formed from layman
Words that rhyme with layman
- Bremen
- gravamen
- caiman
- Damon
- Neman
- flamen
- flehmen
- foramen
- Grand Cayman
- Little Cayman
- neuroforamen
- representamen
1 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about layman
- What does layman mean?
- Layman means layperson, someone who is not an ordained cleric or member of the clergy.
- What is layman in Tamil?
- Layman in Tamil is எளிய, எளிய மாந்தர், சிறப்பறிவு இல்லாதவன். See Layman meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is layman?
- Layman can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce layman?
- Layman is pronounced /ˈleɪmən/.
- What is the plural of layman?
- The plural of layman is laymen.
Words near layman in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: layman (page history and authors); Layman (page history and authors); layman (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); layman (Kannada Wiktionary) (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: en-us-layman.ogg.
Cite this entry: “layman.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/layman. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.