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

Luis Antonio Tagle, 69, a Filipino cardinal, was appointed by Pope Leo XIV as the new dean of the College of Cardinals, elevating his profile as a papal contender in the process. — Arkansas Online, 10 Oct. 2026

The dean of students said her office was investigating fraternities over allegations of physical assault, hazing and drug use. — Amy B Wang, Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2026

At the Economic Club of Minnesota, both candidates spoke for five minutes and then answered questions from the former dean of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. — Esme Murphy, CBS News, 5 Oct. 2026

He was nominated for the award by his supervisor at Moraine Valley, Terra Jacobson, dean of Learning Resources, who also teaches a graduate class at Dominican, along with colleagues Marie Martino and Jayne Killackey. — Melinda Moore, Chicago Tribune, 1 Oct. 2026

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
• clean
• deen
• diene
• gene
• glean
• jean
• keen
• lien

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