5 dictionary results for: laity
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
la·i·ty
[ley-i-tee] Pronunciation Key
[ley-i-tee] Pronunciation Key –noun
| 1. | the body of religious worshipers, as distinguished from the clergy. |
| 2. | the people outside of a particular profession, as distinguished from those belonging to it: the medical ignorance of the laity. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| la·i·ty
(lā'ĭ-tē) Pronunciation Key
n.
[Middle English laite, from lay, of the laity; see lay2.] |
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
laity
laity
1541, "body of people not in religious orders," Anglo-Fr. laite, from lay (adj.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| laity | |
noun | |
| in Christianity, members of a religious community that do not have the priestly responsibilities of ordained clergy [ant: clergy] |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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. A rising up of the laity against the sacerdotal caste. --Macaulay. 2. The state of a layman. [Obs.] --Ayliffe. 3. Those who are not of a certain profession, as law or medicine, in distinction from those belonging to it.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Copyright © 2008, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.











