dean

dean
    n 1: an administrator in charge of a division of a university or
         college
    2: United States film actor whose moody rebellious roles made
       him a cult figure (1931-1955) [syn: {Dean}, {James Dean},
       {James Byron Dean}]
    3: a man who is the senior member of a group; "he is the dean of
       foreign correspondents" [syn: {dean}, {doyen}]
    4: (Roman Catholic Church) the head of the College of Cardinals
    

Dean \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.
      [1913 Webster]

   {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.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. The head or presiding officer in the faculty of some
      colleges or universities.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.]
      [1913 Webster]

   5. The chief or senior of a company on occasion of ceremony;
      as, the dean of the diplomatic corps; -- so called by
      courtesy.
      [1913 Webster]

   {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}.
      [1913 Webster]
    

Dean, TX (city, FIPS 19456)
  Location: 33.93332 N, 98.36889 W
  Population (1990): 277 (114 housing units)
  Area: 5.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
    

Dean, TX -- U.S. city in Texas
   Population (2000):    341
   Housing Units (2000): 136
   Land area (2000):     2.141622 sq. miles (5.546776 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.001593 sq. miles (0.004127 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    2.143215 sq. miles (5.550903 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            19456
   Located within:       Texas (TX), FIPS 48
   Location:             33.928071 N, 98.379255 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):    
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Dean, TX
    Dean
    

DEAN, eccl. law. An ecclesiastical officer, who derives his name from the 
fact that he presides over ten canons, or, prebondaries, at least. There are 
several kinds of deans, namely: 1. Deans of chapters. 2. Deans of peculiars. 
3. Rural deans. 4. Deans in the colleges. 5. Honorary deans. 6. Deans of 
provinces. 
    

111 Moby Thesaurus words for "dean":
      A per se, Grand Penitentiary, Holy Father, abuna, academic dean,
      ace, administration, administrator, antipope, archbishop,
      archdeacon, archon, archpriest, bellwether, bishop,
      bishop coadjutor, boss, canon, cardinal, cardinal bishop,
      cardinal deacon, cardinal priest, champion, chancellor, chaplain,
      chief, chief executive, chief executive officer, coadjutor,
      commander, curate, dean of men, dean of women, diocesan, doyen,
      doyenne, ecclesiarch, elder, eldest, exarch, executive,
      executive director, executive officer, executive secretary, father,
      first-born, firstling, fugleman, genius, guide, head, headmaster,
      headmistress, hierarch, high priest, higher-up, important person,
      kingfish, kingpin, laureate, lead, leader, magistrate, management,
      managing director, master, metropolitan, nonpareil, officer,
      official, older, oldest, papa, paragon, patriarch, penitentiary,
      personage, pilot, pontiff, pope, prebendary, prefect, prelate,
      president, prexy, primate, principal, prodigy, provost, rector,
      ruler, rural dean, secretary, senior, sire, star, subdean,
      suffragan, superior, superman, superstar, the administration,
      the greatest, the most, top dog, treasurer, vicar, vice-chancellor,
      vice-president, virtuoso, warden