lay person
Britishnoun
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a person who is not a member of the clergy
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a person who does not have specialized or professional knowledge of a subject
a lay person's guide to conveyancing
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"They send such a bewildering amount of information through that a lay person couldn't understand it," he said.
From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026
The meaning is not something that a lay person can necessarily intuit.
From Salon • Sep. 8, 2025
"I also express my pain and shock over the killing in Mexico the day before yesterday of two religious brothers of mine, Jesuits, and one lay person," Francis said.
From Reuters • Jun. 22, 2022
“If I had just been a lay person going to pick him up with no mask, kissing him, hugging him … it could be a different scenario now.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2020
However, in a case of necessity when even a lay person might baptize, he would not sin in baptizing.
From Summa Theologica, Part III (Tertia Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
