Noncleric

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Describing a person or matter that is not part of the clergy or the official church hierarchy
2. Relating to someone outside the ordained ministry, such as an ordinary lay member of a religious community
3. Not connected with priests, ministers or other ordained members of a church

Etymology: Clergy were once the people who could read and write, which is why the words for a churchman and a clerk are the same word in different dress. "Cleric" comes from Late Latin "clericus," which in turn comes from Greek "klērikos," from "klēros," meaning a lot, a portion, or an inheritance. The link is an old Christian idea: the clergy were God's allotted share of the people, and Acts 1:26, where lots are cast to choose an apostle, was read as the model for this. "Clerk" is the older, more worn-down English descendant of the same Latin word, and it kept the broader sense of a churchman or scholar until the office-worker meaning took over. "Noncleric" is a plain formation: the Latin prefix "non-," meaning "not," attached to "cleric." It is a modern descriptive coinage, used in the same way as "nonprofessional" or "noncombatant" to name the group outside a set category. It needs no special history beyond that, and the sense is simply anyone who is not a member of the clergy, or anything not connected with that role.

Synonyms: layman, layperson

Antonyms: cleric