deacon
See also: Deacon
English edit
Etymology edit
From Old English diacon, from Ecclesiastical Latin diaconus, from Ancient Greek διᾱ́κονος (diā́konos, “servant, minister”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
deacon (plural deacons)
- (Christianity) A designated minister of charity in the early Church (see Acts 6:1-6).
- (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.
- (Orthodoxy, Catholicism) A clergyman ranked directly below a priest, with duties of helping the priests and carrying out parish work.
- (Protestantism) Free Churches: A lay leader of a congregation who assists the pastor.
- (Protestantism) Anglicanism: An ordained clergyman usually serving a year prior to being ordained presbyter, though in some cases they remain a permanent deacon.
- (Protestantism) Methodism: A separate office from that of minister, neither leading to the other; instead there is a permanent deaconate.
- (Freemasonry) A junior lodge officer.
- (Mormonism) The lowest office in the Aaronic priesthood, generally held by 12 or 13 year old boys or recent converts.
- (US, animal husbandry) A male calf of a dairy breed, so called because they are usually deaconed (see below).
- (Scotland) The chairman of an incorporated company.
Hypernyms edit
- (various religious senses): cleric
Hyponyms edit
- (Catholic): permanent deacon, transitional deacon
Coordinate terms edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
a designated minister of charity in the early Church
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a clergyman ranked directly below a priest
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lay leader of a Protestant congregation
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a junior Lodge officer
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
See also edit
Verb edit
deacon (third-person singular simple present deacons, present participle deaconing, simple past and past participle deaconed)
- (Christianity, music) For a choir leader to lead a hymn by speaking one or two lines at a time, which are then sung by the choir.
- (US, animal husbandry) To kill a calf shortly after birth.
- (US, slang) To place fresh fruit at the top of a barrel or other container, with spoiled or imperfect fruit hidden beneath.
- 1868, Louisa May Alcott, Little Women:
- The blanc mange was lumpy, and the strawberries not as ripe as they looked, having been skilfully 'deaconed'.
- 1902, George Horace Lorimer, Old Gorgon Graham[1]:
- 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.
- (US, slang) To make sly alterations to the boundaries of (land); to adulterate or doctor (an article to be sold), etc.