doyen

[ doi-en, doi-uhn; French dwa-yan ]
See synonyms for doyen on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural doy·ens [doi-enz, doi-enz; French dwa-yan]. /dɔɪˈɛnz, ˈdɔɪ ɛnz; French dwaˈyɛ̃/.
  1. the senior member, as in age, rank, or experience, of a group, class, profession, etc.

Origin of doyen

1
1665–75; <French; Old French deien<Latin decānusdean

Words Nearby doyen

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

How to use doyen in a sentence

  • There were many duties that fell to the village elder (doyen), especially in troubled times.

    Joan of Arc | Lucy Foster Madison
  • And he held out the fish and Kenneth found himself face to face with the doyen Carp.

    The Magic World | Edith Nesbit

British Dictionary definitions for doyen

doyen

/ (ˈdɔɪən, French dway) /


noun
  1. the senior member of a group, profession, or society

Origin of doyen

1
C17: from French, from Late Latin decānus leader of a group of ten; see dean

Derived forms of doyen

  • doyenne (dɔɪˈɛn, French dwajɛn), fem n

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