dean

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
5
Words With Friends
6
Letters
4
Pronunciation
/diːn/
See all 3 pronunciations
/diːn/ · [diːn] · [dĩːn]

Definition of dean

34 senses · 3 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. A senior official in a college or university, who may be in charge of a division or faculty (for example, the dean of science) or have some other advisory or disciplinary function (for example, the dean of students).
    “Lucretius versus the Lake Poets ' Nature I loved ; and next to Nature , Art . ' Dean , adult education may seem silly . What of it though ? I got some willy - nilly The other evening at your college deanery . And grateful for it ( Let's not be facetious!)[…]”
See all 34 definitions

noun

  1. A senior official in a college or university, who may be in charge of a division or faculty (for example, the dean of science) or have some other advisory or disciplinary function (for example, the dean of students).
    “Lucretius versus the Lake Poets ' Nature I loved ; and next to Nature , Art . ' Dean , adult education may seem silly . What of it though ? I got some willy - nilly The other evening at your college deanery . And grateful for it ( Let's not be facetious!)[…]”
  2. A dignitary or presiding officer in certain church bodies, especially an ecclesiastical dignitary, subordinate to a bishop, in charge of a chapter of canons.
  3. The senior member of some group of people.
    “dean of the diplomatic corps - a country's most senior ambassador”
    “dean of the House - the longest-serving member of a legislature”
    “All of the switchboard operators had been parties to it, including Marie Willis. Their dean, Alice Hart, collected[…]”
  4. A hill.
  5. (Northumbria, alt-of, alternative)Alternative form of dene.

verb

  1. (intransitive, rare)To serve as a dean.
  2. (informal, transitive)To send (a student) to see the dean of a college or university.

name

  1. (countable, uncountable)A title afforded to a dean.
  2. (countable, uncountable)A surname
  3. (countable, uncountable)A surname
  4. (countable, uncountable)A surname
  5. (countable, uncountable)A surname
  6. (countable, uncountable)A surname
  7. (countable)A male given name
    “On the normier part of the spectrum are liberal influencers like Dean Withers and Harry Sisson, who have transferred the “debate me, bro” spirit of early YouTube to TikTok Live.”
  8. (countable, uncountable)A male given name
  9. (countable, uncountable)A male given name
  10. (countable, uncountable)A placename:
  11. (countable, uncountable)A placename:
  12. (countable, uncountable)A placename:
  13. (countable, uncountable)A placename:
  14. (countable, uncountable)A placename:
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  17. (countable, uncountable)A placename:
  18. (countable, uncountable)A placename:
  19. (countable, uncountable)A placename:
  20. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable)A placename:
  21. (countable, uncountable)A placename:
  22. (countable, uncountable)A placename:
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Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English den, deen (“dean”), from Anglo-Norman deen and continental Old French deien (modern French doyen), from Latin decānus. Doublet of doyen.

Hooks

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