Dyak (clerk)

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Dyak (дьяк, archaic: diak, диак) is a historical Russian bureaucratic occupation whose meaning varied over time and approximately corresponded to the notions of "chief clerk" or "chief of office department".

A dyak was a title of the chief of a stuctural division of a prikaz. For example, "посольский дьяк" (posolsky dyak) is a dyak of the Posolsky Prikaz (Diplomacy Department). A duma dyak (думный дьяк) was the lowest rank in the Boyar Duma (15-17th centuries).

[edit] Usage note

See "Deacon#Cognates" for other historical terms derived from the Greek diakonos. In particular, the term "dyachok" is constructed in Russian language as a diminutive from "dyak", however it has a completely different meaning.

See also "pevchy dyak" (tsar's or church singer).