layperson

See also: lay person

English

Alternative forms

• lay person

Etymology

A lay (“non-clergy, nonclergy”) +‎ person, along the lines of layman.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈleɪ.pɜɹ.sən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

layperson (plural laypeople or laypersons)

1. A person who is not a cleric.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:layperson

   Hyponyms: layman, laywoman

   Holonyms: laity; see also Thesaurus:laity

   • 2003, Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation: A History, Penguin, →ISBN, page 16:

     We should not underestimate European laypeople. They were perfectly capable of thinking for themselves, particularly about death, a religious theme in which everyone had an investment and about which everyone was likely to have an opinion. There is no need to invoke the idea of systematic pagan survival to account for this: Europe’s mass Christianization had been a steady if piecemeal process from the sixth century through to the fourteenth.

2. One who is not intimately familiar with a given subject or activity.

   Synonyms: nonexpert, nonspecialist

   Antonyms: aficionado, expert, professional, specialist

   The book was written for professionals, but an intelligent layperson could understand most of it.

Related terms

• lay (adjective)

Translations

one who is not a cleric

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 俗家 (zh) (sújiā)

• Czech: laik (cs) m
• Ecclesiastical Latin: lāicus
• Finnish: maallikko (fi)
• French: laïc (fr) m, laïque (fr) f
• German: Laie (de) m, Laiin (de) f
• Greek: αμύητος (el) m (amýitos)

  Ancient Greek: λᾱϊκός (lāïkós)

• Irish: tuata m
• Italian: laico (it) m, laica (it) f
• Japanese: 俗人 (ja) (ぞくじん, zokujin)
• Korean: 평신도 (ko) (pyeongsindo)
• Portuguese: leigo (pt) m, laico (pt) m
• Russian: миря́нин (ru) m (mirjánin), миря́нка (ru) f (mirjánka)
• Slovak: laik m
• Spanish: lego (es) m, laico (es) m
• Swahili: mlei
• Thai: คฤหัสถ์ (th) (ká-rʉ́-hàt), ฆราวาส (th) (ká-raa-wâat)
• Tocharian B: upāsake m, upāsakāñca f

one who is not intimately familiar with a given subject — see also normie

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 外行 (zh) (wàiháng)

• Czech: laik (cs) m, neodborník m
• Finnish: maallikko (fi), amatööri (fi)
• French: profane (fr) m or f
• Georgian: დილეტანტი (dileṭanṭi)
• German: Laie (de) m, Laiin (de) f
• Irish: tuata m
• Italian: profano (it) m, profana (it) f
• Japanese: 素人 (ja) (しろうと, shirōto)
• Portuguese: leigo (pt) m
• Russian: дилета́нт (ru) m (diletánt), дилета́нтка (ru) f (diletántka), люби́тель (ru) m (ljubítelʹ), люби́тельница (ru) f (ljubítelʹnica), профа́н (ru) m (profán)
• Slovak: laik m, neodborník m
• Swedish: lekman (sv) c
• Turkish: uzman dışı biri, uzmanı olmayan biri, uzman dışı kimse, uzmanı olmayan kimse

See also

• amateur