layman
/ˈleɪmən/noun
layman is spelled L-A-Y-M-A-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, layman means “Layperson, someone who is not an ordained cleric or member of the clergy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of layman is laymen.
How many letters and syllables are in layman?
| Letters | 6: L-A-Y-M-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,549th 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 layman?
Layman appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th 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 layman?
- /ˈleɪmən/
Layman has 2 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: En-us-layman.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of layman
- laymen plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does layman mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Layperson, someone who is not an ordained cleric or member of the clergy.
- 2
Someone who is not a professional in a given field.
Carmen is not a professional anthropologist, but strictly a layman.
- 3
A common person.
- 4
A person who is untrained or lacks knowledge of a subject.
- 5
Lay-sister or lay-brother, person received into a convent of monks, following the vows, but not being member of the order.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Layman in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | laïc , profane |
| German | Laie, Laiin |
| Portuguese | laico, leigo , profano |
| Spanish | laico, lego , profano, aficionado |
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 layman come from?
From Middle English layman, lay man, equivalent to lay (“non-clergy”) + man. Cognate with Old Frisian lēkmann, lēkmonn (“layman”), obsolete Dutch leekeman (“layman”), Old High German leihman (“layman”), Danish lægmand (“layman”), Swedish lekman (“layman”), Norwegian lekmann (“layman”), Icelandic leikmaður (“layman”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).