Laywoman
/ˈleɪˌwʊmən/noun
A woman who is not a member of the clergy or a woman who is not a specialist in a particular field.
Did you know?In medieval Christian usage, “lay” marked someone outside the clergy, so the word quietly encodes a social boundary between the consecrated and the common.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*leǵ-
“to gather, collect, or gather together”
Latin
Latin
laicus
“of the people; not of the clergy”
Late Latin
Latin
laicus (feminine laica)
“a lay person, a non-cleric”
Middle English
English
lay
“not clerical; belonging to ordinary people”
Modern English
English
laywoman
“a woman who is not clergy or not a specialist”