dean

¹

[deen]

noun

1. Education.

   1. the head of a faculty, school, or administrative division in a university or college.

      the dean of admissions.

   2. an official in an American college or secondary school having charge of student personnel services, such as counseling or discipline.

      the dean of men.

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

2. Ecclesiastical.

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

   2. 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.

3. the senior member, in length of service, of any group, organization, profession, etc..

   the dean of lexicographers.

Dean

²

[deen]

noun

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

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

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

dean

¹

/ 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

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

4. RC Church the cardinal bishop senior by consecration and head of the college of cardinals See also rural dean

Dean

²

/ 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

Dean

³

/ diːn /

noun

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

Other Word Forms

• deanship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dean¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of dean¹

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

Example Sentences

An assistant dean at Middle Tennessee State University, for example, was terminated by the university for what the school characterized as “callous” comments about the deceased right-wing activist.

From Salon

Blanche speaks with the dean about the incident of harassment and she is dismissed because there weren’t any witnesses.

From Los Angeles Times

“There is a long history of Republicans focused on vote fraud nationally that doesn’t end up turning out to be large numbers,” said Jon Gould, dean of the school of social ecology at UC Irvine.

From Los Angeles Times

You can almost imagine its former life — department memos, summons from the dean, the occasional illicit letter between English faculty — now repurposed to dole out parsley, marjoram, garlic powder.

From Salon

In 1990, he became a full-time academic, starting as chair and later becoming dean of Woodbury University’s School of Architecture, where he earned multiple distinctions, including teacher and faculty member of the year honors.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• administrator 
• legislator 
• principal 
• professor 
• senior