laity
/ˈleɪ.ə.ti/noun
laity is spelled L-A-I-T-Y: 5 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,863rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, laity means “People of a church who are not ordained clergy or clerics” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of laity is laities.
How many letters and syllables are in laity?
| Letters | 5: L-A-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 38,863rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is laity?
Laity appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,863rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce laity?
- US /ˈleɪ.ə.ti/
- US /ˈleɪ.ɪ.ti/
Laity has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-laity.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of laity
- laities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does laity mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
People of a church who are not ordained clergy or clerics.
- 2
The common man or woman.
- 3
The unlearned, untrained or ignorant.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Laity in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense people of a church who are not ordained:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does laity come from?
From Anglo-Norman laite, from Latin laitas, from Ancient Greek λαός (laós, “people”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).