deaness

dean +‎ -ess

deaness (plural deanesses)

1. (rare) A nun who serves as dean in a convent.
2. (rare) A female dean (head of a university faculty).
   • 1986 June 4, Princeton Alumni Weekly, volume 86, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, →ISSN, page 2:

     But now comes Deaness Kathleen Deignan.

3. (rare) The wife of a dean.
   • 1969, “Stevens of Cornell: A Man for All Seasons”, in Arthur John Keeffe, editor, ABA Journal, volume 55, Chicago, Illinois: American Bar Association, →ISSN, page 495:

     And as dean, with the help of his deaness, Eva Howe Stevens, he entertained every student in his home every year and made Cornell a Shangri-la.

• Edessan