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ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Deacon

/ˈdiːkən/ · noun

Meaning

(early Christianity) A designated minister of charity in the early Church (see Acts 6:1-6)..

Definitions by Sense

  1. (early Christianity) A designated minister of charity in the early Church (see Acts 6:1-6).
  2. (Christianity, by extension) A modern-day member of a church who handles secular and/or administrative duties in a priest's stead, the specifics of which depends on denomination.
  3. (Catholicism, Lutheranism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Church of the East) A clergyman ranked directly below a priest, with duties of helping the priests and carrying out parish work.
  4. (Anglicanism) An ordained clergyperson usually serving a year prior to being ordained presbyter, though in some cases they remain a permanent deacon.
  5. (Evangelicalism) A lay leader of a congregation who assists the pastor.
  6. (Methodism) A separate office from that of minister, neither leading to the other; instead there is a permanent deaconate.
  7. (Freemasonry) A junior lodge officer.
  8. (Mormonism) The lowest office in the Aaronic priesthood, generally held by 12 or 13 year old boys or recent converts.

Example Sentences

He was deaconed on the 23rd May, and priested on the 29th September, 1624, by John, Bishop of Sodar and Man.
Chapman was a lay missionary and was not deaconed until 1844 and priested in 1852.
Thus, Samuel Seabury... was deaconed by the Bishop of Lincoln and priested by the Bishop of Carlisle.
The blanc mange was lumpy, and the strawberries not as ripe as they looked, having been skilfully 'deaconed'.
It's like buying a barrel of apples that's been deaconed — after you've found that the deeper you go the meaner and wormier the fruit, you forget all about the layer of big, rosy, wax-finished pippins that was on top.

Synonyms for deacon

protestant deaconcatholic deacon

Antonyms for deacon

Related Words

protestant deaconpriestpopechancellorpractisingleaderleftclergymanclericchurchmanecclesiasticministerpreacherpastorparsonreverendcuratevicarchaplainelder

Word Forms

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does deacon mean?

Deacon means (early Christianity) A designated minister of charity in the early Church (see Acts 6:1-6)..

What is a synonym for deacon?

Common synonyms include protestant deacon, catholic deacon.

What is the opposite of deacon?

The opposite depends on the specific sense.

How do you use deacon in a sentence?

He was deaconed on the 23rd May, and priested on the 29th September, 1624, by John, Bishop of Sodar and Man.

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.