dean

plural deans

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!)[…]

   1995 October 28, Robert Frost, Richard Poirier, Robert Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, & Plays (LOA #81) (DE-601)374069697: Library of America series), Library of America, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 357

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.

   Synonyms: provost

3. The senior member of some group of people.

   dean of the House - the longest-serving member of a legislature

   2 more examples

   dean of the diplomatic corps - a country's most senior ambassador

   All of the switchboard operators had been parties to it, including Marie Willis. Their dean, Alice Hart, collected[…]

   1955 October 19, Rex Stout, The Next Witness, Three Witnesses, 94 Bantam, →ISBN, page 67

present singular third person deans · participle present deaning · participle past deaned · past deaned

1. intransitiverareTo serve as a dean.
2. informaltransitiveotherwise rareTo send (a student) to see the dean of a college or university.

plural deans

1. SussexA hill.

plural deans

1. NorthumbriaalternativeAlternative form of dene.

plural Deans

1. countableuncountableA title afforded to a dean.
2. A surname
   1. countableuncountableA habitational surname from Middle English from Middle English dene “valley”.
   2. countableuncountableA surname from Irish
   3. countableuncountableA surname from Scottish
   4. countableuncountableA surname originating as an occupation
   5. countableuncountableA surname transferred from the given name
3. countableA 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.

   2025 March 17, Andrew Marantz, “The Battle for the Bros”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN, archived from the original on 17 Mar 2025

   1. countableuncountableA male given name transferred from the surname
   2. countableuncountableA male given name originating as an occupation derived from the title.
4. A placename:
   1. countableuncountableA village and civil parish in Cumberland, Cumbria, previously in Allerdale borough (OS grid ref NY0725).
   2. countableuncountableA hamlet in Lynton and Lynmouth parish, North Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref SS7048).
   3. countableuncountableA hamlet in Trentishoe parish, North Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref SS6245).
   4. countableuncountableA hamlet in West Down parish, North Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref SS5042).
   5. countableuncountableA hamlet in Sixpenny Handley and Pentridge parish, east Dorset (OS grid ref ST9715).
   6. countableuncountableA hamlet in Bishop's Waltham parish, Winchester district, Hampshire (OS grid ref SU5619).
   7. countableuncountableA hamlet in Sparsholt parish, Winchester district, Hampshire (OS grid ref SU4431).
   8. countableuncountableA locality between Water and Weir, Rossendale borough, Lancashire (OS grid ref SD8525).
   9. countableuncountableA hamlet in Spelsbury parish, West Oxfordshire district, Oxfordshire (OS grid ref SP3422).
   10. countableuncountableA hamlet in Cranmore parish, Mendip district, Somerset (OS grid ref ST6744).
   11. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of Dean Village: A neighbourhood, a former village in Edinburgh, Scotland.
   12. countableuncountableA small township in the Shire of Hepburn, central Victoria, Australia.
   13. countableuncountableA small community in the Musquodoboit Valley, Nova Scotia, Canada.
   14. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Monterey County, California.
   15. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Appanoose County, Iowa.
   16. countableuncountableA ghost town in Lander County, Nevada.
   17. countableuncountableA township and village therein, in Cambria County, Pennsylvania.
   18. countableuncountableA minor city in Clay County, Texas.