Dean (?), n. [OE.
dene, deene, OF. deien,
dien, F. doyen, eldest of a corporation, a dean, L. decanus the chief of
ten, one set
over ten persons, e. g., over
soldiers or over monks, from decem ten. See Ten, and cf. Decemvir.]
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 dean of the diplomatic corps; -- so called by courtesy.
Cardinal 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.
Hear it pronounced