deacon

Etymology

From Old English diacon, from Ecclesiastical Latin diaconus, from Ancient Greek διᾱ́κονος (diā́konos, “servant, minister”).

noun

1. (Church history) A designated minister of charity in the early Church (see Acts 6:1-6).
2. (Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism) A clergyman ranked directly below a priest, with duties of helping the priests and carrying out parish work.
3. (Protestantism) Free Churches: A lay leader of a congregation who assists the pastor.
4. (Protestantism) Anglicanism: An ordained clergyman usually serving a year prior to being ordained presbyter, though in some cases they remain a permanent deacon.
5. (Protestantism) Methodism: A separate office from that of minister, neither leading to the other; instead there is a permanent deaconate.
6. (Freemasonry) A junior lodge officer.
7. (Mormonism) The lowest office in the Aaronic priesthood, generally held by 12 or 13 year old boys or recent converts.
8. (US, animal husbandry) A male calf of a dairy breed, so called because they are usually deaconed (see below).
9. (Scotland) The chairman of an incorporated company.

verb

1. (Christianity, music) For a choir leader to lead a hymn by speaking one or two lines at a time, which are then sung by the choir.
2. (US, animal husbandry) To kill a calf shortly after birth.
3. (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
4. (US, slang) To make sly alterations to the boundaries of (land); to adulterate or doctor (an article to be sold), etc.