Hypertext Webster Gateway: "laity"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
laity
n : everyone except the clergy [syn: {temporalty}] [ant: {clergy}]
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