deacon
/ˈdiːkən/
"deacon" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“deacon” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #17,339 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #17,339
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 12
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A designated minister of charity in the early Church (see Acts 6:1-6).
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | deacon |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdiːkən/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #17,339 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 12 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “deacon” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for deacon is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdiːkən/. Corpus data places it at rank #17,339 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for deacon, with forms such as "daecon", "ddeacon", and "deaccon". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "dean", "deco", "demon", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English deken, dekne, from Old English diacon, from Ecclesiastical Latin diāconus, from Ancient Greek διᾱ́κονος (diā́konos, “servant, minister”). The correct English form is deacon, spelled D-E-A-C-O-N.
Definition
- 1A designated minister of charity in the early Church (see Acts 6:1-6).
- 2A modern-day member of a church who handles secular and/or administrative duties in a priest's stead, the specifics of which depends on denomination.
- 3A clergyman ranked directly below a priest, with duties of helping the priests and carrying out parish work.
- 4An ordained clergyperson usually serving a year prior to being ordained presbyter, though in some cases they remain a permanent deacon.
- 5A lay leader of a congregation who assists the pastor.
- 6A separate office from that of minister, neither leading to the other; instead there is a permanent deaconate.
- 7A junior lodge officer.
- 8The lowest office in the Aaronic priesthood, generally held by 12 or 13 year old boys or recent converts.
- 9A male calf of a dairy breed, so called because they are usually deaconed (see below).
- 10The chairman of an incorporated company.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English deken, dekne, from Old English diacon, from Ecclesiastical Latin diāconus, from Ancient Greek διᾱ́κονος (diā́konos, “servant, minister”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: daecon,ddeacon,deaccon,deacno,deaconn,deaocn,decaon,edacon
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of deacon - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “deacon”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-A-C-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdiːkən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “dean” - see the side-by-side comparison. deacon vs dean
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.