acolyte Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun someone who assists a priest or minister in a liturgical service; a cleric ordained in the highest of the minor orders in the Roman Catholic Church but not in the Anglican Church or the Eastern Orthodox Churches

WordNet

Ac`o*lyte noun
Etymology
LL. acolythus, acoluthus, Gr. following, attending: cf. F. acolyte.
Definitions
  1. (Eccl.) One who has received the highest of the four minor orders in the Catholic church, being ordained to carry the wine and water and the lights at the Mass.
  2. One who attends; an assistant. "With such chiefs, and with James and John as acolytes." Motley.

Webster 1913