deacon

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deacon in Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox Churches, an ordained minister ranking below that of priest (now, except in the Orthodox Church, typically in training for the priesthood). In some Protestant Churches, a deacon is a lay officer appointed to assist a minister, especially in secular affairs; in the early Church, a deacon was an appointed minister of charity.

The word is recorded from Old English (in form diacon) and comes via ecclesiastical Latin from Greek diakonos ‘servant’, in ecclesiastical Greek ‘Christian minister’.

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