doyen

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noun doy·en \ ˈdȯi-ən , -ˌ(y)en ; ˈdwä-ˌyaⁿ(n) \

Definition of doyen

1 a :the senior member of a body or group

b :a person considered to be knowledgeable or uniquely skilled as a result of long experience in some field of endeavor

2 :the oldest example of a category

See doyen defined for English-language learners

doyen was our Word of the Day on 11/04/2006. Hear the podcast!

Examples of doyen in a Sentence

He is considered the doyen of political journalists.
considered the doyen of American art critics

Recent Examples of doyen from the Web

Kositza has become the face and voice of the publishing house, reviewing books and promoting Antaios’s new releases on her YouTube channel, while Kubitschek is one of its ideological doyens.

— sumi somaskanda, The Atlantic, "A New, New Right Rises in Germany," 22 June 2017
The Causal Diamond Bousso first encountered the measure problem in the 1990s as a graduate student working with Stephen Hawking, the doyen of black hole physics.

— natalie wolchover and peter byrne, WIRED, "How to Check if Your Universe Should Exist," 7 Nov. 2014

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

Did You Know?

English picked up "doyen" from French in the 17th century. The French term in turn comes from the Late Latin word decanus, which itself comes from the Greek dekanos, meaning "chief of ten." A "doyen" can be a leader of a group, such as a diplomatic corps. In this regard, the word has been used to refer to someone who is specifically or tacitly allowed to speak for that group. More broadly, a "doyen" refers to a highly skilled and respected veteran of a particular field. The feminine form of "doyen" is "doyenne."