laity vs people

laity and people both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
laity	Yes	No	No	No
people	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, people is a hypernym of laity; that is, people is a word with a broader meaning than laity:

laity: in Christianity, members of a religious community that do not have the priestly responsibilities of ordained clergy
people: the common people generally

Other hypernyms of laity include hoi polloi, mass, masses, multitude, the great unwashed.

laity (noun)	people (noun)
in Christianity, members of a religious community that do not have the priestly responsibilities of ordained clergy	(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
	the body of citizens of a state or country
	members of a family line
	the common people generally

laity (verb)	people (verb)
	fill with people
	furnish with people