dean
English edit
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): /diːn/, [diːn], [dĩːn], enPR: dēn
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -iːn
- Homophones: dene, 'dine, Dean
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English den, deen (“dean”), from Anglo-Norman deen and continental Old French deien (modern French doyen), from Latin decānus. Doublet of doyen.
Noun edit
dean (plural deans)
- A senior official in a college or university, who may be in charge of a division or faculty (for example, the dean of science) or have some other advisory or disciplinary function (for example, the dean of students).
- 1995 October, Robert Frost, Richard Poirier, Robert Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, & Plays (LOA #81) (DE-601)374069697: Library of America series)[1], Library of America, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 357:
- Lucretius versus the Lake Poets ' Nature I loved ; and next to Nature , Art . '
Dean , adult education may seem silly .
What of it though ? I got some willy - nilly
The other evening at your college deanery .
And grateful for it ( Let's not be facetious!) […]
- A dignitary or presiding officer in certain church bodies, especially an ecclesiastical dignitary, subordinate to a bishop, in charge of a chapter of canons.
- The senior member of some group of people.
- dean of the diplomatic corps - a country's most senior ambassador
- dean of the House - the longest-serving member of a legislature
- 1955 October 19, Rex Stout, The Next Witness, Three Witnesses, 94 Bantam, →ISBN, page 67:
- All of the switchboard operators had been parties to it, including Marie Willis. Their dean, Alice Hart, collected […]
Synonyms edit
- (Head of cathedral chapter): provost
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
senior official in college or university
|
church dignitary
|
senior member of a group
Verb edit
dean (third-person singular simple present deans, present participle deaning, simple past and past participle deaned)
- (intransitive, rare) To serve as a dean.
- (transitive, Oxbridge, otherwise rare, informal) To send (a student) to see the dean of a college or university.
Etymology 2 edit
Related to den.
Noun edit
dean (plural deans)
Etymology 3 edit
Noun edit
dean (plural deans)
- (Northumbria, chiefly in place names) Alternative form of dene.
Anagrams edit
Basque edit
Noun edit
dean
Friulian edit
Etymology edit
From Late Latin decānus, from Latin decem (“ten”). Compare Italian decano, Venetian degàn, French doyen.
Noun edit
dean m (plural deans)
Related terms edit
Galician edit
Verb edit
dean
- inflection of dar: