deacon
noun · verb
Simple meaning
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.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
deekuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdikən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
christianityby 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.
(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.
early Christianity
A designated minister of charity in the early Church.
verb
usslang
To place fresh fruit at the top of a barrel or other container, with spoiled or imperfect fruit hidden beneath.
usslang
To make sly alterations to the boundaries of (land); to adulterate or doctor (an article to be sold), etc.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A Protestant layman who assists the minister.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A woman deacon.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- bishopnoun
- episcopaladjective
- priestnoun
- ordinationnoun
- priesthoodnoun
- rectornoun
- vicarnoun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.