A dignitary or presiding officer in certain ecclesiastical and lay bodies; esp., an ecclesiastical dignitary, subordinate to a bishop.
The collegiate officer in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, England, who, besides other duties, has regard to the moral condition of the college.
The head or presiding officer in the faculty of some colleges or universities.
A registrar or secretary of the faculty in a department of a college, as in a medical, or theological, or scientific department. [U.S.]
The chief or senior of a company on occasion of ceremony; as, the dean of the diplomatic corps; -- so called by courtesy.
Phrases & Compounds
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.
Rural dean
one having, under the bishop, the especial care and inspection of the clergy within certain parishes or districts of the diocese.
Cardinal dean
the senior cardinal bishop of the college of cardinals at Rome.
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.