different between layman vs lawman

English

Etymology

From Middle English lay +? man.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?le?m?n/
• Rhymes: -e?m?n

Noun

layman (plural laymen)

1. Layperson, someone who is not an ordained cleric or member of the clergy.
2. (by extension) Someone who is not a professional in a given field.

3. A common person.
4. A person who is untrained or lacks knowledge of a subject.
   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 221d.

     should he be held to be just a layman, or does he have some art?

5. A generally ignorant person.
6. Lay-sister or lay-brother, person received into a convent of monks, following the vows, but not being member of the order.

Antonyms

• cleric
• priest
• monk
• friar
• expert
• specialist
• professional

Derived terms

• in layman's terms

Related terms

• laity

Translations

Anagrams

• yalman

English

Etymology

From Middle English laweman, la?aman (as a man's name, La?amon, Layamon), from Old English lahmann, from Old Norse l?gmaðr. In present use as a law-enforcement officer, law +? -man.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: lôm?n, lôm?n, IPA^(key): /?l??mæn/, /?l??m?n/
• (US) enPR: lôm?n, lôm?n, IPA^(key): /?l?mæn/, /?l?m?n/
• Rhymes: -??m?n

Noun

lawman (plural lawmen)

1. (law, historical) A lawspeaker: a declarer of the law.
2. (law, historical) One of 12 magistrates in certain Danish boroughs of England empowered with soc and sac over their own households.
3. (law, Orkney and Shetland) The presiding justice of the supreme court.
4. (rare) A man of the law: a lawyer.
5. (informal) An officer of the law: a law-enforcement officer.

Synonyms

• (speaker of the law): lawspeaker
• (medieval Dano-English magistrates): lageman, lagman
• (Orcadian & Shetlandic chief justice): lawman-general, lagman
• (law-enforcement officer): See Thesaurus:police officer

Translations

References

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

Noun

lawman

1. crazy person