Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A man who is the eldest or senior member of a group.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A dean.
Wiktionary
- n. A commander in charge of ten men.
- n. The senior, or eldest male member of a group.
- n. A leading light, or exemplar of a particular practice or movement.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Lit., a dean; the senior member of a body or group.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a man who is the senior member of a group
Etymologies
- Probably French, from Old French doien, from Late Latin decānus, chief of ten; see dean.
Examples
“The rules say the oldest MEP - or "doyen" - chairs the session until a new parliament president is elected.”
“Medical readers will know that the Lancet - the other "doyen" of medical journalism in the UK, is no less rabid in its abuse of Israel.”
On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with...
“I also enjoyed your piece at 'Dark Trees about the "doyen".”
“I believe the term for these cunning folks is "doyen," and they're just about everywhere I go in the Guggenheim, doing, well, what one expects: explaining what the art means.”
“In the one, dated 1423, he is styled 'doyen' (senior inhabitant) of the village, which gave him rank next to the Mayor.”
Joan of Arc
“He said Mr Spence was seen as a "doyen" and that his words would carry "weight and impact".”
“They paid tribute to the zoo's "doyen", whose distinctive personality and "demonstrative lovemaking" had made him a favourite with the French public.”
“You think you hold the title of "doyen" that "scoops are not given exclusively to you.”
“Oddly enough, "doyen" (as in, 'The doyen' of the Washington press corps. ") is pure Biblical”
“Boing Boing reader Genise Schnitman says, "Parke Meek, the self-taught steampunk technical wizard who worked in the Eames office and was the curmudgeonly doyen of Jadis, the retrofuturist wunderkammer on Main Street in Santa Monica, passed away at 86.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘doyen’.
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Jesse's random
bathos, dragoman, tessellated, escutcheon, eikon, mondaine, basilisk, ciborium, rubric, machicolation, jet, defalcation and 154 more...
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Anglo-Norman
English words of Norman-French origin.
wage, wait, war, wicket, warranty, guarantee, guard, warden, guardian, glamour, grammar, catch and 30 more...
brtom "(the semi-paralysed doyen of the party who had to be assisted to his seat by the aid of a powerful steam crane)"
Joyce, Ulysses, 12 Jan 13, 2007
valse also see doyenne Jan 4, 2007