The Collaborative International Dictionary
Lay \Lay\, a. [F. lai, L. laicus, Gr. ? of or from the people, lay, from ?, ?, people. Cf. Laic.]
Of or pertaining to the laity, as distinct from the clergy; as, a lay person; a lay preacher; a lay brother.
Not educated or cultivated; ignorant. [Obs.]
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Not belonging to, or emanating from, a particular profession; unprofessional; as, a lay opinion regarding the nature of a disease.
Lay baptism (Eccl.), baptism administered by a lay person.
--F. G. Lee.Lay brother (R. C. Ch.), one received into a convent of monks under the three vows, but not in holy orders.
Lay clerk (Eccl.), a layman who leads the responses of the congregation, etc., in the church service.
--Hook.Lay days (Com.), time allowed in a charter party for taking in and discharging cargo.
--McElrath.Lay elder. See 2d Elder, 3, note.
Wiktionary
n. (context Christianity English) A layman who is a member of a brotherhood without the intention to become a priest.
Wikipedia
In the past, the term lay brother was used within some Catholic religious institutes, to distinguish members who were not ordained from those members who were clerics ( priests and seminarians). This term is now considered controversial by some because of the history of inequality between Brothers and clerics. The term " lay" has also been used in the past to designate someone as "uneducated" in contrast to "illiterate." Instead, the term "religious Brother" or simply "Brother" is appropriate when referring to a vowed male religious who is neither priest, deacon, nor seminarian. The vocational title "Brother" is generally capitalized in order to distinguish it from the generic use of the biologically relational term "brother."
In religious communities today, religious Brothers are no longer restricted by the institutional inequalities of the past and enjoy the same status, rights, and opportunities as their priest and seminarian confreres, except where sacramental ministry is concerned. Brothers today (at least in the U.S.) generally pursue academic, professional, or technical training that is appropriate to their interests and skills and can be found in a variety of ministries. Many Brothers also study theology, scripture, and philosophy to some degree, although there is a great deal of variance regarding the intensity and duration of these academic curriculums.
Usage examples of "lay brother".
The two novices and the lay brother who had followed them drew near and stood silent.
Cadfael lighted down gladly between the torches in the gateway, and let a lay brother take the bridle.
But as it fell out, she need not have troubled, for late in the afternoon came a lay brother from the gatehouse, to announce that Martin Bellecote had brought down Master Thomas’.
Cadfael was in the warming-house with the rest of the brothers, about a quarter of an hour before Compline, when a lay brother from the guest-hall came enquiring for him.
The porter was a lay brother, a little surprised at being roused to let in two horsemen at such an hour, but satisfied, on recognising both of them, that they must have been employed on some legitimate errand, no great marvel in such troublous times.
But as it fell out, she need not have troubled, for late in the afternoon came a lay brother from the gatehouse, to announce that Martin Bellecote had brought down Master Thomas's coffin, and desired permission to proceed with his business.
But as it fell out, she need not have troubled, for late in the afternoon came a lay brother from the gatehouse, to announce that Martin Bellecote had brought down Master Thomass coffin, and desired permission to proceed with his business.
In the large room across the stone passage, where a dozen beds lay spaced in two rows, either side an open corridor, Brother Edmund and another brother, his back turned and his strong, erect figure unidentifiable from behind, were lifting a cot and the lay brother in it, to move them a short way along the wall, and make room for a new pallet and a new patient.