?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1874) V. 289 That noo clerke scholde receyve investiture of his benefice..of the honde of a seculer lay man.

1520 Chron. Eng. iv. f. 38/2 This man of a laye man was made pope.

1548 E. Gest Treat. againste Masse sig. Fviii It implieth no more one christian then another, no more y^e spiritual then the leamen.

1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. i. f. 24 Let them [the papistes] no more use this shift to say that images are lay mennes bokes.

a1677 I. Barrow Several Serm. Evil-speaking (1678) ix. 94 A Lay-man should not intrude himself to administer the Sacred Functions.

1704 R. Nelson Compan. Festivals & Fasts ii. iii. 377 Nor would the Primitive Church have forbidden Deacons..to have followed secular Employments, if they had been meer Lay-men.

1782 J. Priestley Hist. Corruptions Christianity II. vii. 85 A layman..might baptize.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vi. 95 Of the other six commissioners three were prelates and three laymen.

1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. iii. 118 'No pay no play' is as good a rule for priest as for layman.

1477 T. Norton Ordinall of Alchimy Proem in E. Ashmole Theatrum Chem. Britannicum (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.

1528–30 tr. T. Littleton Tenures (new ed.) f. xxviii To declare and expresse to the lay men that be not lerned in the lawe.

1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus 240 Dry it lyghtly by the sun, and drawe out an oyll after the maner of the lay men.

1866 Sat. Rev. 7 Apr. 403/1 No prudent layman will venture to judge of the merits of a tailor's log.

1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. I. xxiii. 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.

1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 657 The assertion so frequently made by ignorant or unscrupulous laymen that the [medical] profession has been influenced [etc.].

1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes iii, in Wks. 247/1 How the scripture might without great perill..be..taken to ley men & women both.

c1560 T. Becon Relikes of Rome sig. H.ii^v They mighte lawfullye bee baptised in all places..by a layman or a laywoman.

1673 H. Hickman Hist. Quinq-articularis 439 Had he held that a Lay-man, or woman, may administer the Lord's Supper.

1846 W. Maskell Monumenta Ritualia Ecclesiae Anglicanae I. p. ccxi Having reference to baptism in times of necessity by laymen and laywomen.

1922 Daily 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.