English

subdean

From sub- + dean.

Formed from sub- + dean

Proto-Indo-European *upó ‘up; from below’

Proto-Italic *supo ‘under’

Latin sub ‘under, beneath, below’

English sub-

Latin decānus ‘chief of ten’

Anglo-Norman deen

Middle English den ‘dean’

English dean

Today it means

noun An under dean; the deputy or substitute of a dean.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.