layman

American  

[ley-muhn] / ˈleɪ mən /

noun

laymen plural

1. a person who is not a member of the clergy; one of the laity.

2. a person who is not a member of a given profession, as law or medicine.

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layman British  

/ ˈleɪmən /

noun

1. a man who is not a member of the clergy

2. a person who does not have specialized or professional knowledge of a subject

   science for the layman

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Usage

What does layman mean? Layman is used in a religious context to refer to a person who is a regular member of a religious congregation and not a member of the clergy—that is, a layman is someone who is not a religious official like a priest. The term clergy collectively refers to people who have been ordained or otherwise serve as religious leaders or officials, such as priests, rabbis, and nuns. People who are not part of the clergy can be called laypeople or collectively referred to as the laity. Layman and its plural form laymen specifically refer to men but are often used regardless of gender. However, the truly gender-neutral term layperson is also commonly used. Layman is perhaps even more commonly used outside of a religious context to refer to a person who is not a member of a particular profession or who is not an expert in or knowledgeable about a particular field. This sense of the word is used in the phrase layman’s terms, which means plain language that the average person can understand, as opposed to technical jargon that can only be understood by experts in the topic or those who are already familiar with it. When someone asks for an explanation in layman’s terms, they want it to be as simple and straightforward as possible, so that it can be understood by laymen—nonexperts. Example: She has built a career as a science writer by explaining complex topics in a way that is accessible to the layman.

Gender

See -man.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• laymen
  plural

Etymology

Origin of layman

Middle English word dating back to 1150–1200; see origin at lay ³, man

Explanation

A layman might have a small amount of knowledge about something, but she isn't officially trained in the subject. If you need brain surgery, don't consult a layman; stick to a professional brain surgeon. Use the noun layman to describe your brother, who is an amateur bird watcher rather than a professional ornithologist. The word layman is most often used to contrast with expert or professional. Another way to use it is to distinguish between a member of the clergy — a priest or minister, for example — and an ordinary church member, or layman.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

layman laymen

What Mr. Ahamed withholds are the strong, respectable arguments to embrace, not to shun, the boogeyman that Federal Reserve economists style “deflation” but that a layman might rather recognize as human progress.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

"Things are going to need replacing like his wheelchair and the van, they're big things to pay out for which are not what the layman needs," said his wife Anna.

From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026

Perhaps anyone could guess as much, but what a layman might never know without Stanford’s book is that our busy roads severely circumscribe the territory cougars can roam, leading to isolation and inbreeding.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2024

To the layman, a self-propelled howitzer looks like a tank, but it has a bigger, 155mm gun to fire at longer range.

From Salon ● May 19, 2024

In reality, there is no sharp break, no difference in kind, between the expert and the layman, only a difference in degree.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson

Priests as well as laymen view their religion as a liturgy celebrating Russia’s glorious history.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026

While the term is used by laymen as a catch-all for electronic music, techno has a distinctive sound defined by a “four on the floor” uniform, rhythmic beat pattern.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2023

PredictIt data has been cited in dozens of academic papers, with implications for the burgeoning economic theory of “superforecasting,” which states that financially motivated laymen can predict events with greater accuracy than credentialed experts.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2022

As he often said: “When life gives you laymen, make laymen aid.”

From Washington Post ● Jul. 14, 2022

Gopal had taught me that magicians never reveal the secrets of their trade to laymen.

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg

Related Words

• parishioner