layperson's terms
- noun
- /ˈleɪˌpɜrsənz tɜrmz/
:
términos sencillos
- The doctor described the treatment options in layperson's terms for her patient.
Examples
-
In layperson's terms, this means that I was willing to serve in the military but in a specialty that did not require me to bear arms.
Academic text (2000) -
The school has an interest in making anthropological research accessible to the broader public, and so the interviewer asked me to describe my book project on the contemporary Egyptian visual art world in so-called layperson's terms.
Academic text (2008) -
Could you explain the concept in layperson's terms so everyone can understand?
-
He summarized the complex regulations in layperson's terms to help his colleagues grasp the main ideas.
Synonyms
17
3.7
Simple words that people without special training can easily understand
Antonyms
How Simple
Surface Forms
Morphology
layperson's + term
The phrase composes 'layperson' (a non-expert) with 'terms' (words/expressions), so a learner who knows those constituents can directly infer it means 'words or explanations suitable for non-experts'. This is a straightforward possessive+noun composition and parallels similar simple phrasing in many languages, making it clearly transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Layperson's terms comes from the idea of a layperson, someone who is not an expert, and using plain terms they will know. That's why it means 'simple words or explanations that people who are not experts can understand'.