Doyen
German, noun[do̯aˈjɛ̃ː]
Doyen is spelled D-O-Y-E-N (5 letters) and appears about once in every 6 million words in written German, the 120,168th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Doyen is a German masculine noun meaning “most senior representative of a certain group, usually in diplomacy, academia or performing arts, doyen” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “dienstältester Diplomat”.
What does Doyen mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculinemost senior representative of a certain group, usually in diplomacy, academia or performing arts, doyen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. dienstältester Diplomat 2. Person, die einen bestimmten Bereich geprägt hat
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of Doyen
- Doyens genitive
- Doyenne feminine
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce Doyen?
- [do̯aˈjɛ̃ː]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is Doyen in German?
Doyen appears about once in every 6 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).