dean

play

noun \ ˈdēn \

Definition of dean

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 1

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dean

intransitive verb

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deanship

play \-ˌship\ noun

See dean defined for English-language learners

See dean defined for kids

Examples of dean in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of dean from the Web

Glenn Hubbard, dean at the Columbia Graduate School of Business, discusses U.S. tax reform and the importance of President Trump in the process.

— Bloomberg.com, "Hubbard Says President Most Important for Tax Reform," 25 Aug. 2017
Michelle Mason, senior associate dean, and Karim Batista, managing attorney, launched Florida International University College of Law’s Law Practice, which will provide legal services to families.

— sydney pereira, miamiherald, "Many families struggle to afford a lawyer. This FIU program could help.," 25 Aug. 2017
The college district hired Syed Hussain as dean of instructional, arts, media, business and computer sciences in August 2016.

— gary warth, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Palomar trustees set to buy out dean's contract," 7 Aug. 2017
More than a dozen law school deans in California urged the state Supreme Court in February to temporarily reduce the bar exam passing score to between 133 and 136 while the state bar studies the issue.

— sudhin thanawala, The Seattle Times, "California considers lower bar for its tough lawyer exam," 31 July 2017
One of the candidates, Jonathan GS Koppell, dean of Arizona State University’s College of Public Service and Community Solutions, visited the campus in recent weeks.

— david w. chen, New York Times, "At Troubled City College, President’s Job Remains Unfilled," 28 July 2017
Ayala, the first Ecuadorian woman to get a Ph.D. in physics, was eager to return home as the school’s new dean of physical sciences and nanotechnology.

— emiliano rodríguez mega, Science | AAAS, "Plans for a research powerhouse in the Andes begin to unravel," 21 July 2017
Mitchell has served as president of Occidental College in Los Angeles, been vice chancellor and dean of the School of Education at the University of California at Los Angeles, and held positions at Dartmouth College and Stanford University.

— danielle douglas-gabriel, Washington Post, "Ted Mitchell, Obama’s point man on higher education, to head industry trade group," 20 July 2017
Areas like Hamilton County were built without much thought to affordability, said David Reingold, dean of Purdue University's College of Liberal Arts and a sociologist who has studied low-income housing policy.

— stephanie wang, Indianapolis Star, "Federal authorities investigate fair housing complaints against Noblesville, Hamilton County," 6 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dean.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of dean

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

See Words from the same year

dean Synonyms

Synonyms

doyen, elder, elder statesman, éminence grise, nestor, senior

Antonyms

baby, junior

Related Words

better, superior; old hand, old-timer, vet, veteran

Near Antonyms

doyenne; inferior, subordinate, underling; beginner, colt, fledgling, freshman, greenhorn, neophyte, newbie, newcomer, novice, recruit, rookie, tenderfoot, tyro

Dean

play

biographical name \ ˈdēn \

Definition of Dean

Sir Patrick 1909–1994 British diplomat

DEAN Defined for English Language Learners

dean

play

noun

Definition of dean for English Language Learners

: a person who is in charge of one of the parts of a university (such as a college or school)
: a person whose job is to give advice to the students in a college or high school and to make sure that they obey the school's rules
: a person who has more experience in or knowledge about a particular profession, subject, etc., than anyone or almost anyone