διάκονος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• δῐήκονος (diḗkonos) — Ionic
• δῐᾱ́κων (diā́kōn) — later

Etymology

δῐᾰ- (dia-) + Proto-Indo-European *kón-os, from *ken- (“to set oneself in motion”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /di.ǎː.ko.nos/ → /ðiˈa.ko.nos/ → /ðiˈa.ko.nos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /di.ǎː.ko.nos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /diˈa.ko.nos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ðiˈa.ko.nos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ðiˈa.ko.nos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ðiˈa.ko.nos/

Noun

δῐᾱ́κονος • (diā́konos) m or f (genitive δῐᾱκόνου); second declension

1. messenger, courier
2. servant
3. (biblical) minister, deacon, deaconess (female deacon)

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ δῐᾱ́κονος; τοῦ δῐᾱκόνου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ δῐᾱ́κονος ho diā́konos	τὼ δῐᾱκόνω tṑ diākónō	οἱ δῐᾱ́κονοι hoi diā́konoi
Genitive	τοῦ δῐᾱκόνου toû diākónou	τοῖν δῐᾱκόνοιν toîn diākónoin	τῶν δῐᾱκόνων tôn diākónōn
Dative	τῷ δῐᾱκόνῳ tôi diākónōi	τοῖν δῐᾱκόνοιν toîn diākónoin	τοῖς δῐᾱκόνοις toîs diākónois
Accusative	τὸν δῐᾱ́κονον tòn diā́konon	τὼ δῐᾱκόνω tṑ diākónō	τοὺς δῐᾱκόνους toùs diākónous
Vocative	δῐᾱ́κονε diā́kone	δῐᾱκόνω diākónō	δῐᾱ́κονοι diā́konoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• δῐᾱκονέω (diākonéō)
• δῐᾱκόνημᾰ (diākónēma)
• δῐᾱκόνησῐς (diākónēsis)
• δῐᾱκονητῐκός (diākonētikós)
• δῐᾱκονῐκός (diākonikós)
• δῐᾱκονῐ́ομαι (diākoníomai)
• δῐᾱκόνῐον (diākónion)
• δῐᾱκονῐ́ς (diākonís)
• δῐᾱκόνῐσσᾰ (diākónissa)
• δῐᾱκονῐ́ᾱ (diākoníā)

 

Descendants

• → Coptic: ⲇⲓⲁⲕⲱⲛ (diakōn)
• → Gothic: 𐌳𐌹𐌰𐌺𐌰𐌿𐌽𐌿𐍃 (diakaunus)
• → Latin: diaconus (see there for further descendants)
• → Middle Armenian: դիակոն (diakon)
• → Romanian: diacon
• → Russian: дьякон (dʹjakon), дьяк (dʹjak)

Further reading

• “διάκονος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “διάκονος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• διάκονος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• διάκονος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• G1249 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • attendant idem, page 51.
  • courtier idem, page 179.
  • pander idem, page 590.
  • retainer idem, page 706.
  • satellite idem, page 734.
  • servant idem, page 755.