lay reader
Americannoun
noun
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Church of England a person licensed by a bishop to conduct religious services other than the Eucharist
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RC Church a layman chosen from among the congregation to read the epistle at Mass and sometimes other prayers
Etymology
Origin of lay reader
First recorded in 1745–55
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.
A lay reader may find this wordy description difficult to grasp.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
Graeber had mastered the art of pulling new research out of his home field and contextualizing it for the lay reader.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 21, 2023
Joy Gambardella, a lay reader at the city’s Emmanuel Church, said Al Swealmeen had been a “committed Christian”.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 17, 2021
Of the four worshipers, one was a lay reader, Edna Tan, who came to the United States from the Philippines 27 years ago.
From New York Times ● Nov. 13, 2016
No priest ever visits them, but a native at a village on the south fork where is a church holds some position analogous to that of a lay reader.
From Ten Thousand Miles with a Dog Sled A Narrative of Winter Travel in Interior Alaska by Stuck, Hudson
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.
