Search Result for "laity":
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. in Christianity, members of a religious community that do not have the priestly responsibilities of ordained clergy;
[syn: laity, temporalty]



The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Laity \La"i*ty\ (l[=a]"[i^]*t[y^]), n. [See Lay, a.]
   1. The people, as distinguished from the clergy; the body of
      the people not in orders.
      [1913 Webster]

            A rising up of the laity against the sacerdotal
            caste.                                --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The state of a layman. [Obs.] --Ayliffe.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Those who are not of a certain profession, as law or
      medicine, in distinction from those belonging to it.
      [1913 Webster]