dean

¹ American  

[deen] / din /

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 American  

[deen] / din /

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 British  

/ 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 British  

/ 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 British  

/ 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

Etymology

Origin of dean

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

Example Sentences

With more than three decades of experience, Joe is considered the dean of media reporters.

From The Wall Street Journal

Arguing the change was reactionary to Beyoncé's win is easy but conversations had been happening for years, Jason King, the dean of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music, told the BBC.

From BBC

“One thing is to provide short-term aid after a natural disaster such as a hurricane or an earthquake,” said oil expert Francisco Barnés de Castro, a former dean of Mexico’s National Autonomous University.

From The Wall Street Journal

He eventually went on to become an area dean in charge of 12 parishes in Canvey Island in Essex.

From BBC

Before leading UW-Madison, she was dean of UCLA’s law school and, before that, a law professor at the University of Virginia.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• administrator
• legislator
• principal
• professor
• senior