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

The Idaho State Board of Education voted Wednesday to hire David Hahn, dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Arizona, as Boise State’s new president. — Chadd Cripe. Produced With Ai Assistance, Idaho Statesman, 7 July 2026

Ian Williamson, dean of the business school, said the new federal policy played a role in the decision as well as student scheduling preferences. — Andrew Khouri, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026

But Erwin Chemerinsky, Berkeley’s law school dean, said Trump still won most of the cases the court decided either after oral arguments or through emergency appeals the administration brought. — Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 3 July 2026

Connaughton possessed a rare talent for making dense economic matters accessible and easy for the public and reporters to understand, Richard Buttimer, dean of the Belk College of Business, told The Charlotte Observer Tuesday. — Chase Jordan july 1, Charlotte Observer, 1 July 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