dean

noun

ˈdēn 

1

a

: the head of the chapter of a collegiate or cathedral church

b

: a Roman Catholic priest who supervises one district of a diocese

2

a

: the head of a division, faculty, college, or school of a university

b

: a college or secondary school administrator in charge of counseling and disciplining students

3

: doyen sense 1

dean intransitive verb

deanship

ˈdēn-ˌship 

noun

Synonyms of dean

• elder
• veteran
• nestor
• doyen
• elder statesman
• éminence grise
• senior

Examples of dean in a Sentence

She's the dean of the university's business school.

the dean of liberal arts

Recent Examples on the Web

Erwin Chemerinsky is the dean of the UC Berkeley Law School. —Erwin Chemerinsky, Twin Cities, 4 Jan. 2026

Praise for Hurricanes Praise for the Canes this week has poured in from the dean of college coaches, several UM football luminaries and even one of the program’s recent detractors. —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 2 Jan. 2026

Smart, now the dean of SEC coaches with his 10 years leading the Georgia program, led the charge at the league’s spring meetings for eliminating the spring portal window. —Mike Griffith, AJC.com, 1 Jan. 2026

When the student later alerted Sarah Thomas to her pregnancy in spring 2023, the lawsuit claims the dean responded by blaming her. —Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 23 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English deen, from Anglo-French deen, deien, from Late Latin decanus chief of ten, from Greek dekanos, from deka ten — more at ten

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing dean

• dean's list
• rural dean
• sub-dean

Rhymes for dean

• bean
• bein
• bien
• bouin
• chine
• clean
• deen
• diene
• gene
• glean
• jean
• keen

Kids Definition

dean

noun

ˈdēn 

1

: the head of the chapter of a cathedral church

2

a

: the head of a division, faculty, college, or school of a university

b

: a college or secondary school administrator in charge of counseling or disciplining students

3

: the senior member of a group

the dean of the diplomatic corps

deanship

-ˌship 

noun

Biographical Definition

Dean

biographical name

ˈdēn 

Sir Patrick 1909–1994 British diplomat