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

Pageants, deans' lists, graduations or military enlistments are not accepted. — Arkansas Online, 21 June 2026

Before serving as president of the University of Alabama, Bell served as provost and professor of engineering at Louisiana State University and as dean of the School of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Kansas. — Ana Goñi-Lessan, Sun Sentinel, 20 June 2026

One casualty was his lovely Princeton apartment, which never came together, more grad-student than dean in its feel, a lonely refrigerator in the kitchen holding only a cup of iced coffee or a jar of mayonnaise. — Literary Hub, 18 June 2026

David Hahn, dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Arizona, was named the finalist to become Boise State University’s next president. — Idaho Statesman, 18 June 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