"doyen" meaning in English

See doyen in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈdɔɪ.ən/, /dɔɪˈɛn/, /dwɑˈjæ̃/ (note: to approximate the French pronunciation) Forms: doyens [plural]
Rhymes: -ɔɪən, -ɛn Etymology: Borrowed from French doyen, from Late Latin decānus, from Latin decem. Compare the doublet dean. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|fr|doyen}} French doyen, {{der|en|LL.|decānus}} Late Latin decānus, {{der|en|la|decem}} Latin decem, {{doublet|en|dean|notext=1}} dean Head templates: {{en-noun}} doyen (plural doyens)
  1. (obsolete) A commander in charge of ten men. Tags: obsolete Translations ((obsolete) a commander): дуайе́н (duajén) [masculine] (Russian)
    Sense id: en-doyen-en-noun-bEe5~jhO Disambiguation of '(obsolete) a commander': 81 7 11
  2. The senior, or eldest male member of a group. Translations (the senior member): 老資格 (Chinese Mandarin), 老资格 (lǎozīgé) (Chinese Mandarin), 元老 (yuánlǎo) (Chinese Mandarin), plejaĝulo (Esperanto), pliaĝulo (Esperanto), grandaĝulo (Esperanto), profundaĝulo (Esperanto), doyen [masculine] (French), Altmeister [masculine] (German), decano [masculine] (Italian), 元老 (genrō) (alt: げんろう) (Japanese), 長老 (chōrō) (alt: ちょうろう) (Japanese), ⁧سرکرده⁩ (sarkarde) (Persian), старе́йшина (staréjšina) [masculine] (Russian), старшина́ (staršiná) [masculine] (Russian), degan [masculine] (Venetian)
    Sense id: en-doyen-en-noun-FiiO0rFz Disambiguation of 'the senior member': 2 94 4
  3. (colloquial) A leading light, or exemplar of a particular practice or movement. Tags: colloquial Translations ((colloquial) a leading light): Lichtgestalt [feminine] (German), Wortführer [masculine] (German), све́точ (svétoč) [masculine] (Russian)
    Sense id: en-doyen-en-noun-MTGhkAcV Disambiguation of '(colloquial) a leading light': 3 4 92
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: dean (alt: doublet), doyenne

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for doyen meaning in English (7.0kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "doyen"
      },
      "expansion": "French doyen",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "LL.",
        "3": "decānus"
      },
      "expansion": "Late Latin decānus",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "decem"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin decem",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "dean",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "dean",
      "name": "doublet"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from French doyen, from Late Latin decānus, from Latin decem. Compare the doublet dean.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "doyens",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "doyen (plural doyens)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "alt": "doublet",
      "word": "dean"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "doyenne"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "A commander in charge of ten men."
      ],
      "id": "en-doyen-en-noun-bEe5~jhO",
      "links": [
        [
          "commander",
          "commander"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete) A commander in charge of ten men."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "81 7 11",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "duajén",
          "sense": "(obsolete) a commander",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "дуайе́н"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1997, Thomas Swan, The Cezanne Chase, page 171",
          "text": "At every turn, Collyers's aggressive new management in London was out-maneuvering and out promoting the double doyens of the rarefied art auction world. Old-timers at Collyers referred to Christie's and Sotheby's as “the Cow and the Sow,” lumping them together in frequent attitudes of disdain, in an attempt to make up for decades of being the brunt of bad jokes.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, Steve Fuller, Thomas Kuhn: A Philosophical History for Our Times, page 383",
          "text": "Conant's sense of science's world-historic mission did not especially endear him to Harvard's doyens, most of whom still operated with a liberal arts college model of the university in which the humanities reigned supreme and even the natural sciences were treated more as teaching than research subjects.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Vanina Bouté, “Political Hierarchical Processes among Some Highlanders of Laos”, in François Robinne, Mandy Sadan, editors, Social Dynamics in the Highlands of Southeast Asia, page 189",
          "text": "On the domain level, two doyens, called “Lords of the Land” were entitled to some further specific prerogatives, including the right to lead rituals on behalf of all the villages of the domain (i.e. the domain of the clan of the doyen and, therefore, the clan considered the founder of the oldest village).",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020, Francis Annan, ~20:30 from the start, in Escape from Pretoria, Daniel Radcliffe (actor)",
          "text": "Every prison has its doyen, and for us politicals it was Denis Goldberg.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The senior, or eldest male member of a group."
      ],
      "id": "en-doyen-en-noun-FiiO0rFz",
      "links": [
        [
          "senior",
          "senior"
        ],
        [
          "eldest",
          "eldest"
        ],
        [
          "male",
          "male"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "word": "老資格"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "lǎozīgé",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "word": "老资格"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "yuánlǎo",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "word": "元老"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "word": "plejaĝulo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "word": "pliaĝulo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "word": "grandaĝulo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "word": "profundaĝulo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "doyen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Altmeister"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "decano"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "alt": "げんろう",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "genrō",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "word": "元老"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "alt": "ちょうろう",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "chōrō",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "word": "長老"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "code": "fa",
          "lang": "Persian",
          "roman": "sarkarde",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "word": "⁧سرکرده⁩"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "staréjšina",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "старе́йшина"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "staršiná",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "старшина́"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 94 4",
          "code": "vec",
          "lang": "Venetian",
          "sense": "the senior member",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "degan"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1991, Arif Dirlik, Anarchism in the Chinese Revolution, page 129",
          "text": "Unlike the latter, however, Shifu's seriousness allowed no compromise; his criticism of Zhang ji even brought him into conflict with Wu Zhihui, one of the doyens of anarchism in China.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "2008 July 3, Amanda Schaffer, “The Sex Difference Evangelists”, part 3: “Mars, Venus, Babies, and Hormones”, in Slate,\nIn an interview, even Simon Baron-Cohen, another doyen of sex-difference claims, offered up some caution."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Maitrii Aung-Thwin, The Return of the Galon King: History, Law, and Rebellion in Colonial Burma, page 199",
          "text": "For these doyens of the field, the Burmese conceptual landscape was a sophisticated and complex array of beliefs, exhibiting the ability of communities to adapt, appropriate, and reshape external influences throughout history.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A leading light, or exemplar of a particular practice or movement."
      ],
      "id": "en-doyen-en-noun-MTGhkAcV",
      "links": [
        [
          "leading light",
          "leading light"
        ],
        [
          "exemplar",
          "exemplar"
        ],
        [
          "practice",
          "practice"
        ],
        [
          "movement",
          "movement"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial) A leading light, or exemplar of a particular practice or movement."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "3 4 92",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "(colloquial) a leading light",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Lichtgestalt"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 4 92",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "(colloquial) a leading light",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Wortführer"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 4 92",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "svétoč",
          "sense": "(colloquial) a leading light",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "све́точ"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈdɔɪ.ən/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/dɔɪˈɛn/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/dwɑˈjæ̃/",
      "note": "to approximate the French pronunciation"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔɪən"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛn"
    }
  ],
  "word": "doyen"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "doyen"
      },
      "expansion": "French doyen",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "LL.",
        "3": "decānus"
      },
      "expansion": "Late Latin decānus",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "decem"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin decem",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "dean",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "dean",
      "name": "doublet"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from French doyen, from Late Latin decānus, from Latin decem. Compare the doublet dean.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "doyens",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "doyen (plural doyens)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "alt": "doublet",
      "word": "dean"
    },
    {
      "word": "doyenne"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with obsolete senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A commander in charge of ten men."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "commander",
          "commander"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete) A commander in charge of ten men."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1997, Thomas Swan, The Cezanne Chase, page 171",
          "text": "At every turn, Collyers's aggressive new management in London was out-maneuvering and out promoting the double doyens of the rarefied art auction world. Old-timers at Collyers referred to Christie's and Sotheby's as “the Cow and the Sow,” lumping them together in frequent attitudes of disdain, in an attempt to make up for decades of being the brunt of bad jokes.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, Steve Fuller, Thomas Kuhn: A Philosophical History for Our Times, page 383",
          "text": "Conant's sense of science's world-historic mission did not especially endear him to Harvard's doyens, most of whom still operated with a liberal arts college model of the university in which the humanities reigned supreme and even the natural sciences were treated more as teaching than research subjects.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Vanina Bouté, “Political Hierarchical Processes among Some Highlanders of Laos”, in François Robinne, Mandy Sadan, editors, Social Dynamics in the Highlands of Southeast Asia, page 189",
          "text": "On the domain level, two doyens, called “Lords of the Land” were entitled to some further specific prerogatives, including the right to lead rituals on behalf of all the villages of the domain (i.e. the domain of the clan of the doyen and, therefore, the clan considered the founder of the oldest village).",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020, Francis Annan, ~20:30 from the start, in Escape from Pretoria, Daniel Radcliffe (actor)",
          "text": "Every prison has its doyen, and for us politicals it was Denis Goldberg.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The senior, or eldest male member of a group."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "senior",
          "senior"
        ],
        [
          "eldest",
          "eldest"
        ],
        [
          "male",
          "male"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1991, Arif Dirlik, Anarchism in the Chinese Revolution, page 129",
          "text": "Unlike the latter, however, Shifu's seriousness allowed no compromise; his criticism of Zhang ji even brought him into conflict with Wu Zhihui, one of the doyens of anarchism in China.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "2008 July 3, Amanda Schaffer, “The Sex Difference Evangelists”, part 3: “Mars, Venus, Babies, and Hormones”, in Slate,\nIn an interview, even Simon Baron-Cohen, another doyen of sex-difference claims, offered up some caution."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Maitrii Aung-Thwin, The Return of the Galon King: History, Law, and Rebellion in Colonial Burma, page 199",
          "text": "For these doyens of the field, the Burmese conceptual landscape was a sophisticated and complex array of beliefs, exhibiting the ability of communities to adapt, appropriate, and reshape external influences throughout history.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A leading light, or exemplar of a particular practice or movement."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "leading light",
          "leading light"
        ],
        [
          "exemplar",
          "exemplar"
        ],
        [
          "practice",
          "practice"
        ],
        [
          "movement",
          "movement"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial) A leading light, or exemplar of a particular practice or movement."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈdɔɪ.ən/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/dɔɪˈɛn/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/dwɑˈjæ̃/",
      "note": "to approximate the French pronunciation"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔɪən"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛn"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "duajén",
      "sense": "(obsolete) a commander",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "дуайе́н"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "word": "老資格"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "lǎozīgé",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "word": "老资格"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "yuánlǎo",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "word": "元老"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "word": "plejaĝulo"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "word": "pliaĝulo"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "word": "grandaĝulo"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "word": "profundaĝulo"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "doyen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Altmeister"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "decano"
    },
    {
      "alt": "げんろう",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "genrō",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "word": "元老"
    },
    {
      "alt": "ちょうろう",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "chōrō",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "word": "長老"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "roman": "sarkarde",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "word": "⁧سرکرده⁩"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "staréjšina",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "старе́йшина"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "staršiná",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "старшина́"
    },
    {
      "code": "vec",
      "lang": "Venetian",
      "sense": "the senior member",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "degan"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "(colloquial) a leading light",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Lichtgestalt"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "(colloquial) a leading light",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Wortführer"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "svétoč",
      "sense": "(colloquial) a leading light",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "све́точ"
    }
  ],
  "word": "doyen"
}

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