dean
pronunciation
How to pronounce dean in British English:
UK [diːn]
How to pronounce dean in American English:
US [diːn]
-
- Noun:
- an administrator in charge of a division of a university or college
- a man who is the senior member of a group
- (Roman Catholic Church) the head of the College of Cardinals
Word Origin
- dean
- dean: [14] Etymologically, a dean is someone in charge of a group of ten people. That was the meaning of its ancestor, Greek dekānós, a word formed from déka ‘ten’. This eventually came to designate specifically someone in charge of ten monks, and this sense passed via late Latin decānus, Old French deien, and Anglo-Norman deen into English as the ‘head of a cathedral’. The modern French descendant of deien, doyen, was reborrowed into English in the 17th century.=> doyen
- dean (n.)
- early 14c., from Old French deien (12c., Modern French doyen), from Late Latin decanus "head of a group of 10 monks in a monastery," from earlier secular meaning "commander of 10 soldiers" (which was extended to civil administrators in the late empire), from Greek dekanos, from deka "ten" (see ten). Replaced Old English teoðingealdor. College sense is from 1570s (in Latin from late 13c.).
Example
- 1. The idiosyncrasies of academics diffuse the dean 's power and authority .
- 2. So says amir ziv , vice dean at columbia business school .
- 3. In summary , being a good dean is all about personal credibility .
- 4. Like his predecessor , the new dean also believes schools should act as commentators .
- 5. Mr hubbard is dean and professor of finance and economics at columbia business school .