rural dean

2 definitions found

rural dean - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Rural \Ru"ral\, a. [F., fr. L. ruralis, fr. rus, ruris, the
     country. Cf. Room space, Rustic.]
     1. Of or pertaining to the country, as distinguished from a
        city or town; living in the country; suitable for, or
        resembling, the country; rustic; as, rural scenes; a rural
        prospect.
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              Here is a rural fellow; . . .
              He brings you figs.                   --Shak.
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     2. Of or pertaining to agriculture; as, rural economy.
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     Rural dean. (Eccl.) See under Dean.
  
     Rural deanery (Eccl.), the state, office, or residence, of
        a rural dean.
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     Syn: Rustic.
  
     Usage: Rural, Rustic. Rural refers to the country itself;
            as, rural scenes, prospects, delights, etc. Rustic
            refers to the character, condition, taste, etc., of
            the original inhabitants of the country, who were
            generally uncultivated and rude; as, rustic manners; a
            rustic dress; a rustic bridge; rustic architecture,
            etc.
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                  We turn
                  To where the silver Thames first rural grows.
                                                    --Thomson.
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                  Lay bashfulness, that rustic virtue, by;
                  To manly confidence thy throughts apply.
                                                    --Dryden.
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  Dean \Dean\, n. [OE. dene, deene, OF. deien, dien, F. doyen,
     eldest of a corporation, a dean, L. decanus the chief of ten,
     one set over ten persons, e. g., over soldiers or over monks,
     from decem ten. See Ten, and cf. Decemvir.]
     1. A dignitary or presiding officer in certain ecclesiastical
        and lay bodies; esp., an ecclesiastical dignitary,
        subordinate to a bishop.
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     Dean of cathedral church, the chief officer of a chapter;
        he is an ecclesiastical magistrate next in degree to
        bishop, and has immediate charge of the cathedral and its
        estates.
  
     Dean of peculiars, a dean holding a preferment which has
        some peculiarity relative to spiritual superiors and the
        jurisdiction exercised in it. [Eng.]
  
     Rural dean, one having, under the bishop, the especial care
        and inspection of the clergy within certain parishes or
        districts of the diocese.
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     2. The collegiate officer in the universities of Oxford and
        Cambridge, England, who, besides other duties, has regard
        to the moral condition of the college. --Shipley.
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     3. The head or presiding officer in the faculty of some
        colleges or universities.
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     4. A registrar or secretary of the faculty in a department of
        a college, as in a medical, or theological, or scientific
        department. [U.S.]
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     5. The chief or senior of a company on occasion of ceremony;
        as, the dean of the diplomatic corps; -- so called by
        courtesy.
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     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.
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