Decanus
Ancient Roman and ecclesiastical rank / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the use of the term in the Roman and Byzantine empires. For the various Western ecclesiastic and university offices, see Dean (religion) and Dean (education).
Decanus means "chief of ten" in Late Latin. The term originated in the Roman army and became used thereafter for subaltern officials in the Byzantine Empire, as well as for various positions in the Church, whence derives the English title "dean". It is unrelated to the position of deacon (Latin diaconus, Greek διάκονος).