deacon

CEFRC1

/ˈdiːkən/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A church member who helps with religious services and duties.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    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., A clergyman ranked directly below a priest, with duties of helping the priests and carrying out parish work.

Examples

  • I got a call from a deacon in your church.

  • Tom is a deacon in his church.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

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

  2. 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. A clergyman ranked directly below a priest, with duties of helping the priests and carrying out parish work.

More examples

In context

  • Sami wanted to become a deacon.

  • 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.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank read a passage from the Bible during the Sunday service.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Inherited from Middle English deken, dekne, from Old English diacon, from Ecclesiastical Latin diāconus, from Ancient Greek διᾱ́κονος (diā́konos, “servant, minister”).