Where does “dean” come from?
Dean comes from Old French deen, from Old French deien, from Latin decanus, meaning a leader of ten, derived from Latin decem meaning ten.
dean (English): A senior official in a college or university, who...
Definitions
- A senior official in a college or university, who...
Ancestry of “dean”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | deen | — |
| 2 | Old French | deien | — |
| 3 | Latin | decānus | chief of ten people (in various contexts) |
| 4 | Latin | decem | ten; 10 |
| 5 | Latin | -nus | -an |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -nos | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -nós | Creates verbal adjectives from roots |