as in clergyman
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Recent Examples of deaconess
Then in 1964, Parks became a deaconess in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
—
Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
Then in 1964, Parks became a deaconess in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
—Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
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
Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
Then in 1964, Parks became a deaconess in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
—Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deaconess
Noun
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The movie featured Tom Hollander as clergyman Mr. Collins, a cousin of Mr. Bennet’s who is set to inherit the family’s rural estate since the Bennets have no sons.—
Emily Blackwood,
People.com,
30 July 2025
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The clergyman was from the Maryknoll mission, a Roman Catholic order that had long worked with the Japanese American community and was now assisting with their removal from the West Coast.—
Tracy Slater
July 10,
Literary Hub,
10 July 2025
Noun
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Seer: Big-budget historical epic following the Trojan priestess Cassandra and her lover Apollo.—
Vulture Staff,
Vulture,
15 July 2025
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One of the exciting new discoveries includes new information regarding Babylonian women–many were priestesses.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
2 July 2025
Noun
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Afterward, the senior cardinal deacon will announce the new pope from the balcony of St. Peter's.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
27 Apr. 2025
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Aimee had three ministerial assistants and a board of seven elders, along with 21 deacons — 14 of them women.—
Claire Hoffman,
Rolling Stone,
20 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Saint Urban, by the way, was a Franco-German bishop deemed the patron of winemakers.—
John Mariani,
Forbes.com,
1 Aug. 2025
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The Episcopal Church elected Gene Robinson in 2003 as the first openly gay bishop, leading to lasting tensions with the broader Anglican Communion.—
Jordan King,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 July 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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Honoree Fleming, a retired college dean, was shot dead in October 2023 while walking near her favorite trail near the Vermont State University campus in Castleton, Vt., the Associated Press reported at the time.—
NWA Democrat-Gazette,
Arkansas Online,
8 Aug. 2025
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Blake Fabrikant has seen the benefits of phone-free schools as the dean of students at The Sharon Academy, a small independent high school in Sharon, Vt.—
Charlotte Alter,
Time,
4 Aug. 2025
Noun
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In an area that used to produce influential Catholic churchmen the way the Dodgers churned out Rookies of the Year, Gomez has amounted to the living equivalent of a hair shirt: a mode of piety that serves no one but the wearer.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2025
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Martini was a key figure in a group of churchmen who met annually in St. Gallen, Switzerland, to ponder how best to blunt John Paul and Ratzinger’s reactionary thrust.—
Paul Elie,
The New Yorker,
26 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The Trump administration had faced pressure to release Go, the daughter of an Episcopal priest, from religious groups and at least one lawmaker from within the president’s own party.—
Emma Seiwell,
New York Daily News,
5 Aug. 2025
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The nurse called the priest to do an exorcism on the house and bless the nurse and her roommate.—
Pamela McLoughlin,
Hartford Courant,
5 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deaconess.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deaconess. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
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