2. Belonging to, characteristic of, or constituting another and very different place, society, or person; strange. See Synonyms at foreign. 3. Dissimilar, inconsistent, or opposed, as in nature: emotions alien to her temperament.
n, pl -thens or -then. 1. (Alternative Belief Systems) a person who does not acknowledge the God of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam; pagan. 2. an uncivilized or barbaric person. 3. (Alternative Belief Systems) the heathen (functioning as plural) heathens collectively.
The word laity means common people and comes from the Greek Î»Î±ÏÎºÏÏ (laikos), meaning of the people. Synonyms for layperson include: parishioner, believer, dilettante, follower, member, neophyte, novice, outsider, proselyte, recruit, secular, laic, layman, nonprofessional. Everyday context. The phrase layman's terms is often used to refer to terms that apply to the everyday person, as can the term layman or layperson itself. In English law, the phrase the man on the Clapham omnibus is sometimes used to describe a hypothetical person who is reasonably educated and intelligent but has no special expertise in a specific business or profession.