| 释义 |
layman1|ˈleɪmən|
Also 5–6 laye-, laieman, 6 leaman, leman.
[Orig. two words: see lay a. (and n.9).]
1. A man who is not a cleric; one of the laity.
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) V. 289 That noo clerke scholde receyve investiture of his benefice..of the honde of a seculer lay man. 1520Caxton's Chron. Eng. iv. 38/2 This man of a laye man was made pope. 1548Gest Pr. Masse F viij, It implieth no more one christian then another, no more y⊇ spiritual then the leamen. 1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 24 Let them [the papistes] no more use this shift to say that images are lay mennes bokes. a1677Barrow Serm. Wks. 1716 I. 210 A Lay-man should not intrude himself to administer the sacred functions. 1704Nelson Fest. & Fasts iii. (1739) 473 Nor would the Primitive Church have forbidden Deacons..to have followed secular Employments, if they had been mere Laymen. 1782Priestley Corrupt. Chr. II. vii. 85 A layman..might baptize. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 95 Of the other six commissioners three were prelates and three laymen. 1865Kingsley Herew. iii. (1875) 82 It is as good a rule for priest as for layman.
2. transf. A man who is an ‘outsider’ or a non-expert in relation to some particular profession, art, or branch of knowledge (esp. with reference to law and medicine).
1477Norton Ord. Alch. Proem in Ashm. (1652) 6 This Boke is made, that Lay-men shulde it see, And Clerks alsoe..Whereby all Lay-men which putteth them in prease, To seech by Alkimy great ryches to winn May finde good Counsell. 1559Morwyng Evonym. 240 Dry it lyghtly by the sun, and drawe out an oyll after the maner of the lay men. 1574tr. Littleton's Tenures 69 b, To declare and expresse to the lay men that be not learned in the law. 1866Sat. Rev. 7 Apr. 403/1 No prudent layman will venture to judge of the merits of a tailor's log. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. I. 329 Sometimes this is a simple question which an intelligent layman may answer. More frequently it is a difficult one which needs..the subtlety of the trained lawyer. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 657 The assertion so frequently made by ignorant or unscrupulous laymen that the [medical] profession has been influenced [etc.].
So ˈlaywoman.
1529More Dyaloge iii. Wks. 247/1 How the scripture might without great perill..be..taken to ley men & women both. 1553Becon Reliques of Rome (1563) 95 They myght lawfully be baptised in all places..by a Layman or by a Laywoman. 1674Hickman Quinquart. Hist. (ed. 2) 140 Had he held that a Lay-man, or woman, may administer the Lord's Supper. 1846W. Maskell Mon. Rit. I. p. ccxi, Having reference to baptism in times of necessity by laymen and laywomen. 1922Daily Mail 11 Nov. 8 The success of this laywoman is a..cheerful omen of good luck for those women who..will hold the position of practising members of the English Bar. |