Question

doyen noun English picked up doyen from French in the 17th century. The French word in turn comes, via the Old French deien, from the Late Latin word decanus, which itself comes from the Greek dekanos, meaning "chief of ten." A doyen can be a leader of a group, such as a diplomatic corps. In this regard, the word has been used to refer to someone who is specifically or tacitly allowed to speak for that group. More broadly, a doyen refers to a highly skilled and respected veteran of a particular field. The feminine form of doyen is doyenne. 1 a : the senior member of a body or groupb : a person considered to be knowledgeable or uniquely skilled as a result of long experience in some field of endeavor2 : the oldest example of a category

Accepted Answer

December 17, 2020 DOY-un We watched a TV documentary by Jacques Cousteau, the doyen of undersea explorers."Opening night will feature the saxophonist and spiritual-jazz doyen Pharoah Sanders, who turns 80 next month…." — Giovanni Russonello, The New York Times, 6 Sept. 2020

Word	doyen
Date	December 17, 2020
Type	noun
Syllables	DOY-un
Etymology	English picked up doyen from French in the 17th century. The French word in turn comes, via the Old French deien, from the Late Latin word decanus, which itself comes from the Greek dekanos, meaning "chief of ten." A doyen can be a leader of a group, such as a diplomatic corps. In this regard, the word has been used to refer to someone who is specifically or tacitly allowed to speak for that group. More broadly, a doyen refers to a highly skilled and respected veteran of a particular field. The feminine form of doyen is doyenne.
Examples	We watched a TV documentary by Jacques Cousteau, the doyen of undersea explorers. "Opening night will feature the saxophonist and spiritual-jazz doyen Pharoah Sanders, who turns 80 next month…." — Giovanni Russonello, The New York Times, 6 Sept. 2020
Definition	1 a : the senior member of a body or group b : a person considered to be knowledgeable or uniquely skilled as a result of long experience in some field of endeavor 2 : the oldest example of a category

Doyen French Word Skilled December Noun Doy Un English