dean

[ deen ]
See synonyms for dean on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Education.

    • the head of a faculty, school, or administrative division in a university or college: the dean of admissions.

    • an official in an American college or secondary school having charge of student personnel services, such as counseling or discipline: the dean of men.

    • the official in charge of undergraduate students at an English university.

  2. Ecclesiastical.

    • the head of the chapter of a cathedral or a collegiate church.

    • Also called vicar forane. a priest in the Roman Catholic Church appointed by a bishop to take care of the affairs of a division of a diocese.

  1. the senior member, in length of service, of any group, organization, profession, etc.: the dean of lexicographers.

Origin of dean

1
1300–50; Middle English deen<Anglo-French deen, dean,Old French deien<Late Latin decānus chief of ten, equivalent to Latin dec(em) ten + -ānus-an

Other words from dean

  • deanship, noun

Other definitions for Dean (2 of 2)

Dean
[ deen ]

noun
  1. James (Byron), 1931–55, U.S. actor.

  2. Jay Hanna "Dizzy", 1911–74, U.S. baseball pitcher.

  1. a male given name: from the Old English family name meaning “valley.”

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dean in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for dean (1 of 3)

dean

/ (diːn) /


noun
  1. the chief administrative official of a college or university faculty

  2. (at Oxford and Cambridge universities) a college fellow with responsibility for undergraduate discipline

  1. mainly Church of England the head of a chapter of canons and administrator of a cathedral or collegiate church

  2. RC Church the cardinal bishop senior by consecration and head of the college of cardinals: See also rural dean Related adjective: decanal

Origin of dean

1
C14: from Old French deien, from Late Latin decānus one set over ten persons, from Latin decem ten

Derived forms of dean

  • deanship, noun

British Dictionary definitions for Dean (2 of 3)

Dean1

/ (diːn) /


noun
  1. Forest of Dean a forest in W England, in Gloucestershire, between the Rivers Severn and Wye: formerly a royal hunting ground

British Dictionary definitions for Dean (3 of 3)

Dean2

/ (diːn) /


noun
  1. Christopher. See Torvill and Dean

  2. James (Byron). 1931–55, US film actor, who became a cult figure; his films include East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause (both 1955). He died in a car crash

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012