doyen
/ˈdɔɪ.ən/noun
doyen is spelled D-O-Y-E-N: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 70,702nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, doyen means “The senior, or eldest male member of a group” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of doyen is doyens.
How many letters and syllables are in doyen?
| Letters | 5: D-O-Y-E-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 70,702nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is doyen?
Doyen appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 70,702nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce doyen?
- /ˈdɔɪ.ən/
- /dɔɪˈɛn/
- /dwɑˈjæ̃/
Doyen has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-doyen.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-doyen2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with doyen?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as doyen.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: doney.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of doyen
- doyens plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does doyen mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
obsoleteA commander in charge of ten men.
- 2
The senior, or eldest male member of a group.
- 3
colloquialA leading light, or exemplar of a particular practice or movement.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Doyen in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | doyen |
| German | Altmeister , Lichtgestalt, Wortführer |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does doyen come from?
Borrowed from French doyen, from Late Latin decānus, from Latin decem. Compare the doublet dean.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).