dean1
  
  n.
  - the head of the chapter of a cathedral or collegiate church. 
▸
(also rural dean, area dean)
 Brit. a member of the clergy exercising supervision over a group of parochial clergy within a division of an archdeaconry.
 - the head of a university faculty or department or of a medical school. 
▸a college officer with a disciplinary role.
 
 
  Derivative
  
    
      - deanery n. 
(pl. deaneries)
. 
    
   
  Etymology
  ME: from OFr. deien, from late L. decanus ‘chief of a group of ten’, from decem ‘ten’; cf. doyen.