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DEACONESS

 - 3 dictionary results

dea⋅con⋅ess

[dee-kuh-nis]
–noun
1. (in certain Protestant churches) a woman belonging to an order or sisterhood dedicated to the care of the sick or poor or who is engaging in other social-service duties, as teaching or missionary work.
2. a woman elected by a church to assist the clergy.

Origin:
1530–40; earlier deaconisse, part trans., part adoption of LL diāconissa, fem. of diāconus deacon; see -ess


See -ess.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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dea·con·ess   (dē'kə-nĭs)   
n.  
  1. A Protestant woman who assists the minister in various functions.

  2. Used as a title prefixed to the surname of such a woman: Deaconess Brown.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Bible Dictionary

Deaconess

Rom. 16:1, 3, 12; Phil. 4:2, 3; 1 Tim. 3:11; 5:9, 10; Titus 2:3, 4). In these passages it is evident that females were then engaged in various Christian ministrations. Pliny makes mention of them also in his letter to Trajan (A.D. 110).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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