Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Dean
Dean
,Noun.
1.
A dignitary or presiding officer in certain ecclesiastical and lay bodies; esp., an ecclesiastical dignitary, subordinate to a bishop.
Dean of cathedral church
, the chief officer of a chapter; he is an ecclesiastical magistrate next in degree to bishop, and has immediate charge of the cathedral and its estates.
– Dean of peculiars
, a dean holding a preferment which has some peculiarity relative to spiritual superiors and the jurisdiction exercised in it.
[Eng.]
– Rural dean
, one having, under the bishop, the especial care and inspection of the clergy within certain parishes or districts of the diocese.
2.
The collegiate officer in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, England, who, besides other duties, has regard to the moral condition of the college.
Shipley.
3.
The head or presiding officer in the faculty of some colleges or universities.
4.
A registrar or secretary of the faculty in a department of a college, as in a medical, or theological, or scientific department.
[U.S.]
5.
The chief or senior of a company on occasion of ceremony;
as, the
; – so called by courtesy. dean
of the diplomatic corpsCardinal dean
, the senior cardinal bishop of the college of cardinals at Rome.
Shipley.
– Dean and chapter
, the legal corporation and governing body of a cathedral. It consists of the dean, who is chief, and his canons or prebendaries.
– Dean of arches
, the lay judge of the court of arches.
– Dean of faculty
, the president of an incorporation or barristers; specifically, the president of the incorporation of advocates in Edinburgh.
– Dean of guild
, a magistrate of Scotch burghs, formerly, and still, in some burghs, chosen by the Guildry, whose duty is to superintend the erection of new buildings and see that they conform to the law.
– Dean of a monastery
, Monastic dean
a monastic superior over ten monks.
– Dean’s stall
. See
Decanal stall
, under Decanal
.Webster 1828 Edition
Dean
DEAN
, n.Definition 2024
Dean
dean
dean
English
Noun
dean (plural deans)
- 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).
- A dignitary or presiding officer in certain church bodies, especially an ecclesiastical dignitary, subordinate to a bishop, in charge of a chapter of canon.
- 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
- 1955, Rex Stout, "The Next Witness", in Three Witnesses, October 1994 Bantam edition, ISBN 0553249592, page 67:
- All of the switchboard operators had been parties to it, including Marie Willis. Their dean, Alice Hart, collected […]
- (Sussex) a hill (chiefly place names).
Synonyms
- (Head of cathedral chapter): provost
Related terms
Derived terms
Translations
senior official in college or university
church dignitary
senior member of a group
Verb
dean (third-person singular simple present deans, present participle deaning, simple past and past participle deaned)
- (intransitive, rare) To serve as a dean.
- (transitive, rare, informal) To send (a student) to see the dean of a university.