deaconess
noun
dea·con·ess
ˈdē-kə-nəs 
: a woman chosen to assist in the church ministry
specifically
: one in a Protestant order
Examples of deaconess in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Then in 1964, Parks became a deaconess in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
—
Jacqueline Howard,
CNN,
22 Feb. 2025
In her younger years, Webb was an avid churchgoer in Baltimore, Maryland alongside her father, a deacon, and her mother, a deaconess, who met in a church choir.
—
Robyn Mowatt,
ELLE,
22 June 2023
Welcome to the Rehearsal Club, an artist residency and the one-year-old reincarnation of a nonprofit organization founded in 1913 by Jane Harriss Hall, an Episcopal deaconess, and Jean Greer, the daughter of New York’s Episcopal bishop.
—
Joanne Kaufman,
New York Times,
27 Jan. 2023
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Jacqueline Howard,
CNN,
22 Feb. 2025
In her younger years, Webb was an avid churchgoer in Baltimore, Maryland alongside her father, a deacon, and her mother, a deaconess, who met in a church choir.
—
Robyn Mowatt,
ELLE,
22 June 2023
Welcome to the Rehearsal Club, an artist residency and the one-year-old reincarnation of a nonprofit organization founded in 1913 by Jane Harriss Hall, an Episcopal deaconess, and Jean Greer, the daughter of New York’s Episcopal bishop.
—
Joanne Kaufman,
New York Times,
27 Jan. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Deaconess.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deaconess. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
deaconess
noun
dea·con·ess
ˈdē-kə-nəs
: a woman in various Christian churches who is chosen to assist in the church ministry
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