laity

[ley-i-tee]

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noun

the body of religious worshipers, as distinguished from the clergy.

the people outside of a particular profession, as distinguished from those belonging to it: the medical ignorance of the laity.

Origin of laity

First recorded in 1535–45; lay³ + -ity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for laity

laymen, parish, congregation, laypeople, laywomen

Examples from the Web for laity

Contemporary Examples of laity

Many ex-members I spoke with felt like financial matters were off limits from the laity.
Another Mega Church Implodes
Warren Throckmorton
September 14, 2014

Historical Examples of laity

He is a leading member of the Roman Catholic laity in England.
The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 25, January 1893
Various
They are the priests of a religion, and can never descend to the charges of the laity.
Gerald Fitzgerald
Charles James Lever
And as for your Latin service, what are we of the laity the better for it?
Fox's Book of Martyrs
John Foxe
The laity had no ambition to take upon themselves the burdens of the clergy.
The Reign of Mary Tudor
W. Llewelyn Williams.
There were magistrates and courts of law for the offences of the laity.
Short Studies on Great Subjects
James Anthony Froude

British Dictionary definitions for laity

laity

noun

laymen, as distinguished from clergymen

all people not of a specific occupation

Word Origin for laity

C16: from lay ³

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for laity

"body of people not in religious orders," early 15c., from Anglo-French laite, from lay (adj.) + -ity.