διάκονος

Forms

δῐᾱ́κονος (diā́konos) m or f (genitive δῐᾱκόνου); second declension^[1] Ionic διήκονος (diḗkonos); a later athematic form διάκων (diákōn) is found in papyri.^[2][3] Mycenaean perhaps Mycenaean Greek ka-si-ko-no, if it stands for a compound in -κονος meaning “worker, companion”.^[3][4][5]

Etymology

It is probably formed from Ancient Greek δια- (dia-) + -κονος (-konos), an agent noun built on a verbal stem *ken- (“to exert oneself, hasten”) that is also found in ἐγκονέω (enkonéō, “to hurry”).^[3][5][4] Frisk and Beekes allow two explanations: the noun may come from a lost simple verb, like ἀμφίπολος (amphípolos, “attendant”), or it may be a back-formation from διακονέω (diakonéō, “to serve”), which would then be an intensive like the verb meaning “to hurry”.^[6][3] The prefix may mean “completely” or “on all sides”.^[3][4] The long ᾱ of the prefix is perhaps a lengthening found in compounds, which would show that the word is old, but Ruijgh objected that only the first vowel of the second member is lengthened in this way.^[3][4] Babiniotis rejects the old links with διήκω (diḗkō, “to reach”) and with κόνις (kónis, “dust”), and compares Latin cōnor (“to attempt”).^[7]

The Etymologicum Magnum derived it from a verb meaning “to carry”, the servant being the one who carries out orders, or from a verb meaning “to serve”.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, where Hermes is called the servant and messenger of the new tyrant Zeus.^[2][5][9]

Semantic evolution

In classical Greek the διάκονος was a servant or attendant, one who waits on others or carries messages.^[2][5][4] Herodotus has the Scythians bury a king's attendant with him, and in Aristophanes the word is also feminine.^[2][5][4] Plato uses it as an adjective for a menial skill and for traders who act as go-betweens.^[2][5] From the 3rd century BC inscriptions use it for attendants of a temple or a religious guild.^[2][5][4]

In the New Testament it is an agent or minister of God or of Christ, applied to Paul and the apostles, and in the letters to Timothy and the Philippians an officer of the church, the deacon; the feminine is used of a deaconess.^[10][2][7] The Church kept the word to the present day.^[4] From the Greek came Late Latin diaconus, whence Old English diacon and the English word for a deacon, and Coptic texts from the 4th century borrowed it as Coptic ⲇⲓⲁⲕⲟⲛⲟⲥ (diakonos).^[11][12]

Modern Greek διάκονος (diákonos) is a learned word for the lowest of the three orders of the priesthood, beside popular διάκος (diákos).^[13] Chantraine notes the modern derivatives διακονεύω (diakonévo, “to beg”) and διακονιά (diakoniá, “begging”).^[4]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for Hermes as Zeus's messenger.^[2][5]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the Ionic form for a royal attendant, and Sophocles for a messenger.^[2][5]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it as a feminine, and Plato as an adjective for a menial skill.^[2][5]
• 3rd century BC – An inscription from Troezen uses it for an attendant in a religious guild.^[2][5]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for a minister of God and for a deacon of the church.^[10][2]
• 4th century AD – Coptic manuscripts have it as a loanword, and a papyrus names a deacon.^[12][2]
• Modern Greek – The learned word διάκονος (diákonos) names a deacon.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A servant or attendant, also of a woman.^[2][5]
2. A messenger, an intermediary or agent.^[2][5][10]
3. An attendant or official of a temple or religious guild.^[2][5]
4. (New Testament) A minister or servant of God or of Christ.^[10][5]
5. (Christianity) A deacon; as a feminine, a deaconess.^[2][10]

Adjective

1. Serving, menial, of a skill.^[2][5]

Word family

• διακονέω (diakonéō)
• διακόνημα (diakónēma)
• διακόνησις (diakónēsis)
• διακονία (diākoníā)
• διακονικός (diakonikós)
• ἀρχιδιάκονος (arkhidiā́konos)
• διακόνισσα (diakónissa)

Related words

• ἐγκονέω (enkonéō)
• ἀμφίπολος (amphípolos)
• Latin diaconus
• English deacon

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
8. ^ Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b c d e Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
11. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki