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

Howell was an anthropology professor at a college in the west suburbs before taking the job as dean of parents at Alpha Chicago. — Marissa Sulek, CBS News, 13 Nov. 2026

In between her jobs at the Alternative Schools Network, Morales worked from 2005 until 2006 at Malcolm X College as dean of the college’s adult education program. — Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 12 Nov. 2026

The strike has also been backed by labor unions, university deans, churches, artists, athletes, international media organizations and others. — ABC News, 3 Nov. 2026

In response to a request for comment, Stanford University directed Drilled and ProPublica to former law school dean Paul Brest, who led a committee that reviewed energy research funding at the school. — Katie Worth, ProPublica, 30 Oct. 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