dean

noun

ˈdēn 

1

a

: the head of the chapter of a collegiate or cathedral church

b

: a Roman Catholic priest who supervises one district of a diocese

2

a

: the head of a division, faculty, college, or school of a university

b

: a college or secondary school administrator in charge of counseling and disciplining students

3

: doyen sense 1

dean intransitive verb

deanship

ˈdēn-ˌship 

noun

Synonyms

• doyen
• elder
• elder statesman
• éminence grise
• nestor
• senior

Examples of dean in a Sentence

She's the dean of the university's business school.

the dean of liberal arts

Recent Examples on the Web

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the professor and senior associate dean for leadership studies at the Yale School of Management, told CNN on Monday that Bezos should dismiss Lewis. —Oliver Darcy, CNN, 21 June 2024

Erwin Chemerinsky is dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law. —Erwin Chemerinsky, Sun Sentinel, 18 June 2024

Hughes is survived by his daughter the Rt. Rev. Carlye J. Hughes, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, daughter Robin Lee Hughes, who is the academic dean at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and son Robert. —Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 June 2024

Advertisement California Stanford names Jonathan Levin, business school dean, new president after leadership crisis April 4, 2024 Mahdavi could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. —Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English deen, from Anglo-French deen, deien, from Late Latin decanus chief of ten, from Greek dekanos, from deka ten — more at ten

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing dean

• dean's list
• rural dean
• sub-dean

Kids Definition

dean

noun

ˈdēn 

1

: the head of the chapter of a cathedral church

2

a

: the head of a division, faculty, college, or school of a university

b

: a college or secondary school administrator in charge of counseling or disciplining students

3

: the senior member of a group

the dean of the diplomatic corps

deanship

-ˌship 

noun

Biographical Definition

Dean

biographical name

ˈdēn 

Sir Patrick 1909–1994 British diplomat