Definition of 'dean'
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Word Frequency
dean in British English
noun
1.
2.
(at Oxford and Cambridge universities) a college fellow with responsibility for undergraduate discipline
3. mainly Church of England
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
deanship (ˈdeanˌship) noun
Word origin
C14: from Old French deien, from Late Latin decānus one set over ten persons, from Latin decem ten
Word Frequency
Dean in British English 1
noun
See Forest of Dean
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
Dean in British English 2
Word Frequency
Dean in American English
noun
a masculine name
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word Frequency
dean in American English
noun
1.
a.
the presiding official of a cathedral or collegiate church
2. US
3.
a.
the senior member of a particular group
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
deanship (ˈdeanˌship)
noun
Word origin
ME den < OFr deien, dean < LL(Ec) decanus, chief of ten monks < LL(Ec), leader of ten < L decem, tenWord Frequency
dean in American English 1
(din)
noun
1. Education
a.
the head of a faculty, school, or administrative division in a university or college
the dean of admissions
b.
an official in an American college or secondary school having charge of student personnel services, such as counseling or discipline
the dean of men
c.
the official in charge of undergraduate students at an English university
2. Ecclesiast
a.
the head of the chapter of a cathedral or a collegiate church
3.
the dean of lexicographers
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
deanship noun
Word origin
[1300–50; ME deen ‹ AF deen, dean, OF deien ‹ LL decānus chief of ten, equiv. to L dec(em) ten + -ānus -an]Word Frequency
dean in American English 2
(din)
noun
Brit
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Examples of 'dean' in a sentence
dean
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dean
British English: dean
NOUN /diːn/
A dean is an important official at a university or college.
She was Dean of the Science faculty.
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dean
Related terms of
dean
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Definition of dean from the Collins English Dictionary
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