(n)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
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English (GCIDE) v.0.53Collaborative International Dictionary (GCIDE)
n. [ Pref. sub- + deacon: cf. L. subdiaconus. ] (Eccl.) One belonging to an order in the Roman Catholic Church, next interior to the order of deacons; also, a member of a minor order in the Greek Church. [ 1913 Webster ]