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

There’s a quiet intensity to the moment when families first turn to the dean of admissions. —Maria Williams, USA Today, 9 Mar. 2026

Pageants, deans' lists, graduations or military enlistments are not accepted. —Arkansas Online, 8 Mar. 2026

In conducting the self-review, however, Khator and some of her academic deans sent communications to faculty that referenced the new state law, which doesn’t contain any reference to indoctrination. —Samantha Ketterer, Houston Chronicle, 7 Mar. 2026

Susan Murin, dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine, said the projects these students are working on could one day help save lives. —James Taylor, CBS News, 6 Mar. 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
• 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