deaconess

American  

[dee-kuh-nis] / ˈdi kə nɪs /

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.

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deaconess British  

/ ˈdiːkənɪs /

noun

1. Christianity (in the early church and in some modern Churches) a female member of the laity with duties similar to those of a deacon

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Gender

See -ess.

Etymology

Origin of deaconess

1530–40; earlier deaconisse, part translation, part adoption of Late Latin diāconissa, feminine of diāconus deacon; -ess

Example Sentences

What started under a tent with classes, a Sunday school and free nursing soon became one of Seattle’s first kindergartens, a deaconess named Elizabeth Swift told The Seattle Times.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 11, 2021

A few weeks ago in Des Moines, members of a Baptist church laid hands on Biden while a deaconess grasped his wrists and prayed that he receive godly wisdom.

From Washington Post • Feb. 1, 2020

For more than 25 years, she has attended the same church in Dallas, where she serves as a deaconess.

From New York Times • Oct. 7, 2019

In 1907, Episcopal Bishop Cleland Kinloch Nelson consecrated her as a deaconess, a designation for women ordained and directed to serve God through caring for “the sick, the afflicted and the poor.”

From Washington Times • Apr. 8, 2018

Maten was seventy-three years old, a diabetic, and a deaconess at the Resurrection Mission Baptist Church.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers