DEACON • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Deacon

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/dˈikən/ Listen

noun

Deacon n.

(Eccl.) An officer in Christian churches appointed to perform certain subordinate duties varying in different communions. In the Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches, a person admitted to the lowest order in the ministry, subordinate to the bishops and priests. In Presbyterian churches, he is subordinate to the minister and elders, and has charge of certain duties connected with the communion service and the care of the poor. In Congregational churches, he is subordinate to the pastor, and has duties as in the Presbyterian church.

The chairman of an incorporated company. (Scot.)

verb

Deacon v. t.

To read aloud each line of (a psalm or hymn) before singing it, usually with off. (Colloq. New. Eng.) See Line, v. t. Note: The expression is derived from a former custom in the Congregational churches of New England. It was part of the office of a deacon to read aloud the psalm given out, one line at a time, the congregation singing each line as soon as read; called, also, lining out the psalm.

With humorous reference to hypocritical posing: To pack (fruit or vegetables) with the finest specimens on top; to alter slyly the boundaries of (land); to adulterate or doctor (an article to be sold), etc. (Colloq., U. S.)

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Etymology of 'Deacon'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Deacon" Quotes from Famous Books

... auctionibus, Successor exheres gemit Sanctis egens Parentibus. Haec occuluntur abditis Ecclesiarum in angulis. Et summa pietas creditur Nudare dulces liberos.——Prudent. Hymn 2. The subsequent conduct of the deacon Laurence only proves how proper a use was made of the wealth of the Roman church; it was undoubtedly very considerable; but Fra Paolo (c. 3) appears to exaggerate, when he supposes that the successors of Commodus were urged to persecute the Christians by ...

— The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume 1 • Edward Gibbon

... Mary's time, there was only one congregation of Protestants in London, to the number of about three- hundred, one was the deacon to them, and kept the list of their names: one of that congregation did dream, that a messenger, (Queen's Officer) had seized on this deacon, and taken his list; the fright of the dream awaked him: he fell asleep ...

— Miscellanies upon Various Subjects • John Aubrey

... my dear, dear deacon, who do you vote for?" inquired a stanch teetotaller, as an old gentleman approached. The person addressed, after a little hesitation, during which a few nervous twinges of the mouth betrayed his nervousness of conscience, and the debate going ...

— Town and Country, or, Life at Home and Abroad • John S. Adams

... old "shay" which went to pieces all at once was a symbol of Calvinistic theology. That theology was called an iron chain of logic, every link so perfectly forged that it could not be broken at any point. Even so was the "shay" built, unbreakable in every single part; but when the deacon finds himself sprawling and dumfounded in the road beside the wrecked ...

— Outlines of English and American Literature • William J. Long

... Bible, the prayer-books and the catechisms, are meekness and self-abnegation; ever with covered heads (a badge of servitude) to do some humble service for man; that they are unfit to sit as a delegate in a Methodist conference, to be ordained to preach the Gospel, or to fill the office of elder, of deacon or of trustee, or to enter the Holy of ...

— The Woman's Bible. • Elizabeth Cady Stanton

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