deacon

Syllables: dea·con/ˈdiːkən/

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

Noun

deacon (plural deacons)

(early Christianity) A designated minister of charity in the early Church (see Acts 6:1-6).
(broadly, 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.
(broadly, Anglicanism) An ordained clergyperson usually serving a year prior to being ordained presbyter, though in some cases they remain a permanent deacon.
(broadly, Evangelicalism) A lay leader of a congregation who assists the pastor.
(broadly, Methodism) A separate office from that of minister, neither leading to the other; instead there is a permanent deaconate.
(broadly) A junior lodge officer.
(Mormonism, broadly) 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.

Verb

deacon (third-person singular simple present deacons, present participle deaconing, simple past and past participle deaconed)

(transitive) To ordain to the diaconate.
- He was deaconed on the 23rd May, and priested on the 29th September, 1624, by John, Bishop of Sodar and Man.1869, George Bennett, The History of Bandon, and the Principal Towns in the West Riding of County Cork, Francis Guy, page 518
- Chapman was a lay missionary and was not deaconed until 1844 and priested in 1852.1992, Allan Davidson, Donald D. Hook, “New Zealand's Prayer Book”, in Anglican and Episcopal History, 61.3, pages 247-251
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.
- The blanc mange was lumpy, and the strawberries not as ripe as they looked, having been skilfully 'deaconed'.1868, Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
- 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.1902, George Horace Lorimer, Old Gorgon Graham
(US, slang) To make sly alterations to the boundaries of (land); to adulterate or doctor (an article to be sold), etc.

Proper noun capitalized: Deacon

Deacon (plural Deacons)

A surname originating as an occupation.
(rare) A male given name from English.
- And like a mirror image in gestures if not in looks, Steward spit fresh Blue Boy while Deek lit a cigar. However disgusted both were, K.D. knew they would not negotiate a solution that would endanger him or the future of Morgan money. His grandfather had named his twins Deacon and Steward for a...1997, Toni Morrison, Paradise, Random House, published 2010, →ISBN, page 55

deacon meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

deacon in Hindi

designated minister of charity in the early Church: सेवक sevak
clergyman ranked directly below a priest: उपयाजक upyājak

deacon in Tamil

டீக்கன்

deacon in Marathi

डिकन, डीकन

deacon in Urdu

پادری کا نائب

More languagesFewer languages

deacon in Bengali: অতিথি, ফ্রিলোডার, বোকা, বিরক্তিকর ব্যক্তি
deacon in Telugu: డీకన్, డీకోన్, డీకాన్
deacon in Malayalam: ശെമ്മാശ്ശൻ śemmāśśaṉ
deacon in Kannada: ಡೀಕನ್, ಡೀಕೋನ್
deacon in Punjabi: ਡੀਕਨ, ਡਿਕਨ
deacon in Gujarati: ડીકન, ડિકન, ડેકોન
deacon in Odia: ଡିକନ, ଡୀକନ୍
deacon in Nepali: डिकन, डीकन
deacon in Tagalog: diyakono
deacon in Arabic: شَمَّاس šammās
deacon in Indonesian: diakon, diaken
deacon in Persian: شماس šammâs
deacon in Thai: สังฆานุกร sǎng-kaa-nú-gɔɔn
deacon in Vietnamese: phó tế, chấp sự, trợ tế, thầy sáu

Examples of deacon in a sentence

In the Latin rite, all bishops, priests, and transitional deacons are obliged to recite the Divine Office daily.
The parish deacon was always pushing to get new kneelers for the church, probably because he was old and his knees were sensitive.
There have been many major and minor orders in the history of Christianity: the order of virgins, of deacons, priests, lectors, acolytes, porters, catechists, widows, etc.

All 16 example sentences with deacon

Forms of deacon

Noun
plural	deacons
Verb
third-person singular present	deacons
present participle	deaconing
past participle	deaconed
past	deaconed
Proper noun
plural	Deacons
alternative form	Deakin

Plural of deacon: deacons

Origin of deacon

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

* English occupational surname for someone working in the household of a deacon. * Also as an English surname, variant of Dicken. * As an Irish surname, from Ó Deocáin, "descendant of Deocán."

Words formed from deacon

Phrases with deacon

transitional deacon

Words that rhyme with deacon

Questions about deacon

What does deacon mean?: Deacon means a designated minister of charity in the early Church (see Acts 6:1-6).
What is deacon in Hindi?: Deacon in Hindi is सेवक (sevak), उपयाजक (upyājak). See Deacon meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is deacon?: Deacon can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce deacon?: Deacon is pronounced /ˈdiːkən/.
What is the plural of deacon?: The plural of deacon is deacons.

Words near deacon in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-deacon.ogg.

Cite this entry: “deacon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/deacon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.