'Deaconess' definitions:
Definition of 'deaconess'
(from WordNet)
noun
A woman deacon
Definition of 'Deaconess'
From: GCIDE
- Deaconess \Dea"con*ess\, n. (Eccl.) A female deacon; as: (a) (Primitive Ch.) One of an order of women whose duties resembled those of deacons. (b) (Ch. of Eng. and Prot. Epis. Ch.) A woman set apart for church work by a bishop. (c) A woman chosen as a helper in church work, as among the Congregationalists. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'deaconess'
From: Easton
- 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).