Word of the Day

Monday September 28, 2009

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doyen [DOY-en; DWAH-yan]

noun

1. A senior member of a body or group.

• The group, whose founder and sole shareholder, Giorgio Armani, is regarded as the doyen of Italian fashion designers, had consolidated revenues of 1.6bn and Ebitda of 303m, representing a margin of 18.7 per cent.
  Vincent Boland, "Armani profits drop 14% in 'difficult' year", FT.com, May 7, 2009
• Launched by soap doyen Irna Phillips on NBC radio on January 25, 1937, "The Guiding Light" - as it was known then - quite literally spawned an entire industry, while begetting a term ("soap") that reflected both the sponsor and the tempestuous on-screen lives of its characters.
  Verne Gay, "After 72 years, 'Guiding Light' going out at CBS", Newsday, Apr 2, 2009
• Raffles regarded me with that tantalizing smile of his which might mean nothing, yet which often meant so much; and in a flash I was convinced that our most jealous enemy and dangerous rival, the doyen of an older school, had paid him yet another visit.
  Ernest William Hornung (1866-1921) An English author. A Thief in the Night (1905)

Origin of the Word

Doyen, approximately 1422, derives from French doyen "commander of ten".