as in clergyman
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Recent Examples of deaconess
Born in a homestead just north of the D.C. border in 1930 and 1933, the brothers were raised in historic St. Phillips Baptist Church, where their father was an associate minister and their mother a deaconess.
—
Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024
The Pauline epistles contain numerous references to women who were instrumental in the leadership of the early church: Phoebe, a deaconess; Chloe; Apphia; Euodia; Nympha; Junia.
—Cressida Leyshon, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023
More recently, a Nov. 15, 2021 issue of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel noted that in 2017, Israeli archaeologists uncovered stones and mosaics memorializing Theodosia the deaconess and Gregoria the deaconess in the ruins of a 1,600-year-old basilica in Ashdod.
—Susan Degrane, chicagotribune.com, 30 Mar. 2022
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
The virus also claimed the life of Shirley Miller, 70, a deaconess who assisted with baptisms and communion.
—Ray Sanchez, CNN, 18 Apr. 2020
Today, the deaconesses can again access their own cemetery and visit the graves of their sisters.
—Washington Post, 30 Oct. 2019
But the pope asked some skeptical questions at the assembly about whether the responsibilities of deaconesses in the early church were more circumscribed than those of male deacons.
—Elisabetta Povoledo and Laurie Goodstein, New York Times, 12 May 2016
Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024
The Pauline epistles contain numerous references to women who were instrumental in the leadership of the early church: Phoebe, a deaconess; Chloe; Apphia; Euodia; Nympha; Junia.
—Cressida Leyshon, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023
More recently, a Nov. 15, 2021 issue of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel noted that in 2017, Israeli archaeologists uncovered stones and mosaics memorializing Theodosia the deaconess and Gregoria the deaconess in the ruins of a 1,600-year-old basilica in Ashdod.
—Susan Degrane, chicagotribune.com, 30 Mar. 2022
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
The virus also claimed the life of Shirley Miller, 70, a deaconess who assisted with baptisms and communion.
—Ray Sanchez, CNN, 18 Apr. 2020
Today, the deaconesses can again access their own cemetery and visit the graves of their sisters.
—Washington Post, 30 Oct. 2019
But the pope asked some skeptical questions at the assembly about whether the responsibilities of deaconesses in the early church were more circumscribed than those of male deacons.
—Elisabetta Povoledo and Laurie Goodstein, New York Times, 12 May 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deaconess
Noun
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Most songs concern a protagonist who pursued a career as a clergyman despite a lack of faith.—
Jazz Monroe,
Pitchfork,
24 Jan. 2025
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In 2005, Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the leading Shiite clergyman, was forced to mediate between rival Shiite groups amid a deadly Sunni insurgency.—
Ranj Alaaldin,
Foreign Affairs,
13 Sep. 2018
Noun
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Someone who would later make his living from teaching the Course and selling his own tapes, lectures, and videos would have obvious mercenary reasons to construct the story of Helen as a true, reluctant priestess, the project as foreordained, and Jesus as the book’s authentic Voice.—
Sheila Heti,
Harper's Magazine,
2 Sep. 2024
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The origin story centers on Kraven's upbringing under a ruthless crime lord dad (Russell Crowe) and journey to become the world's greatest hunter, with Ariana DeBose as voodoo priestess Calypso and Alessandro Nivola as villainous Rhino.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA TODAY,
12 Dec. 2024
Noun
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That desire led him to the seminary in 1982, and, three years later, he was ordained as a deacon and priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.—
Melanie Stetson Freeman,
The Christian Science Monitor,
21 Jan. 2025
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By the seventh century, deacons from seven of the oldest and most important churches of Rome served as special advisers to the popes.—
Joanne M. Pierce,
The Conversation,
15 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Here’s a list January 21, 2025 3:19 PM Read Next National US Catholic bishops condemn Trump immigration crackdown.—
Natalie Demaree,
Miami Herald,
29 Jan. 2025
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In 1980, the bishops of the United States began partnering with the federal government to carry out this service when Congress created the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP).—
Joel Thayer,
Newsweek,
26 Jan. 2025
Noun
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This would be the case also for an apostate, heretic, schismatic bishop, presbyter, or deacon.—
Fr. Goran Jovicic,
National Review,
13 June 2021
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The Rev. Allen D. Timm, executive presbyter of the Presbytery Church in Detroit, said the church is waiting to hear from the general assembly as to when volunteers will be dispatched to Houston.—
Allie Gross,
Detroit Free Press,
29 Aug. 2017
Noun
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Advertisement The muted showing for streamers overall reflects changing strategies at some of these companies, as awards contenders — or even winners — haven’t always translated to subscription boosts, said Stephen Galloway, dean of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.—
Samantha Masunaga,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Jan. 2025
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Diaz-Balart, a Miami-Dade Republican and dean of the Florida Congressional Delegation, is the new committee vice chair and continues as chair of the subcommittee for national security, the State Department and related programs.—
Anthony Man,
Sun Sentinel,
21 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Pentecostalism was about two decades old at the time, and its early practices of interracial worship, speaking in tongues, and divine healing were subjects of lively conversation among the relatively staid and respectable churchmen of mainline Protestantism.—
Andrew Cockburn,
Harper's Magazine,
19 Aug. 2024
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If the dominant Spaniards of The Betrothed are unjust, self-interested, and pompous, few of the Italians — including churchmen — are any better.—
David Harsanyi,
National Review,
25 Jan. 2024
Noun
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Copyright law doesn’t protect general ideas — or incidents, characters and settings considered standard in the treatment of particular topics (think a priest in a movie about possession) — only the particular expression of those ideas.—
Winston Cho,
The Hollywood Reporter,
27 Jan. 2025
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The ‘20s house guests mingle with priests and nuns from the house’s church days and the souls of her mother and father, who each died inside.—
Nicolas Rivero,
Miami Herald,
26 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near deaconess
Cite this Entry
“Deaconess.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deaconess. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.
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