- a person who is not a member of the clergy
- a person who does not have specialized or professional knowledge of a subject: a lay person's guide to conveyancing
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
lay•per•son
(lā′pûr′sən),USA pronunciation n.
- a person who is not a member of the clergy;
one of the laity. - a person who is not a member of a given profession, as law or medicine.
- lay(man) + -person 1970–75
- See -person.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
lay person, layperson n ( pl lay persons, lay people, laypersons, laypeople)
'layperson' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
lay person
- acupuncturist
- barefoot doctor
- evangelist
- how-to
- lay intermediary
- lay reader
- local preacher
- regent
- vicar choral
- vicar-general
- secular