Standard Lemma guide

subdeacon

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A Catholic clerical rank in the major orders below that of a deacon.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

Topics: Catholicism, Christianity

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A Catholic cleric who assists the deacon at High Mass and normally reads the Epistle at the Eucharist.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

Topics: Catholicism, Christianity

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A layperson who acts as an assistant to the deacon during the celebration of mass.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: Anglicanism

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The highest of the minor orders below that of a deacon.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: Eastern Orthodoxy

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hypodeacon

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a clergyman an order below deacon; one of the Holy Orders in the unreformed western Christian church and the eastern Catholic Churches but now suppressed in the Roman Catholic Church

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: clergyman, reverend, man of the cloth, Holy Order, Order

History

Etymology

Originated 1275–1325 from Middle English subdecon and -dekene, from Late Latin subdiāconus. Equivalent to sub- + deacon.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: կիսասարկավագ (kisasarkavag) — cleric below a deacon
  • Finnish: alidiakoni — cleric below a deacon
  • French: sous-diacre — cleric below a deacon
  • German: Subdiakon — cleric below a deacon
  • Irish: fodheagánach — cleric below a deacon
  • Italian: suddiacono — cleric below a deacon
  • Macedonian: ипоѓа́кон (ipoǵákon) — cleric below a deacon
  • Manx: fo-yaghin — cleric below a deacon
  • Old English: subdiacon — cleric below a deacon
  • Polish: subdiakon — cleric below a deacon
  • Portuguese: subdiácono — cleric below a deacon
  • Romanian: subdiacon — cleric below a deacon
  • Russian: иподья́кон (ipodʹjákon) — cleric below a deacon
  • Russian: иподиа́кон (ipodiákon) — cleric below a deacon
  • Spanish: subdiácono — cleric below a deacon
  • Vietnamese: phụ phó tế — cleric below a deacon
  • Vietnamese: trợ phó tế — cleric below a deacon
  • Vietnamese: thầy năm — cleric below a deacon
  • Finnish: alidiakoni — cleric who assists the deacon at High Mass
  • Manx: fo-yaghin — cleric who assists the deacon at High Mass
  • Polish: subdiakon — cleric who assists the deacon at High Mass