Part 52

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

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.

Dean"er*y (?), n.; pl. Deaneries (&?;). 1. The office or the revenue of a dean. See the Note under Benefice, n., 3.

2. The residence of a dean. Shak.

3. The territorial jurisdiction of a dean.

Each archdeaconry is divided into rural deaneries, and each deanery is divided into parishes.

Blackstone.

Dean"ship, n. The office of a dean.

I dont't value your deanship a straw.

Swift.

Dear (dr), a. [Compar. Dearer (-r); superl. Dearest (-st).] [OE. dere, deore, AS. deóre; akin to OS. diuri, D. duur, OHG. tiuri, G. theuer, teuer, Icel. drr, Dan. & Sw. dyr. Cf. Darling, Dearth.] 1. Bearing a high price; high-priced; costly; expensive.

The cheapest of us is ten groats too dear.

Shak.

2. Marked by scarcity or dearth, and exorbitance of price; as, a dear year.

3. Highly valued; greatly beloved; cherished; precious. "Hear me, dear lady." Shak.

Neither count I my life dear unto myself.

Acts xx. 24.

And the last joy was dearer than the rest.

Pope.

Dear as remember'd kisses after death.

Tennyson.

4. Hence, close to the heart; heartfelt; present in mind; engaging the attention. (a) Of agreeable things and interests.

Shak.

His dearest wish was to escape from the bustle and glitter of Whitehall.

Macaulay.

(b) Of disagreeable things and antipathies.

In our dear peril.

Shak.