chief

Contents

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French chief (“leader”), from Vulgar Latin *capum (from which also captain, chieftain), from Latin caput (“head”) (English cap (“head covering”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kauput- (English head).

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /tʃiːf/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːf

NounEdit

chief (plural chiefs)

1. A leader or head of a group of people, organisation, etc. [from 13th c.]
   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 4:

     My father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, was a chief by both blood and custom.

   All firefighters report to the fire chief.

2. (heraldry) The top part of a shield or escutcheon. [from 15th c.]
   • 1889, Charles Norton Elvin, A Dictionary of Heraldry:

     When the Chief is Charged with any figure, in blazon it is said to be "On a Chief".

3. An informal address to an equal.

   Hey, chief.

SynonymsEdit

• See also Wikisaurus:boss

Derived termsEdit

Look at pages starting with chief.

Terms dervied from chief (noun)

• case-in-chief
• chief constable
• chiefess
• chief executive
• chief executive officer/CEO
• chief legal officer

• chief magistrate
• chief mate
• chief of staff
• chief of state
• chief petty officer
• commander in chief

• dexter chief
• editor in chief
• fire chief
• police chief
• too many chiefs and not enough Indians
• war chief

Related termsEdit

• captain
• chef
• chieftain

TranslationsEdit

leader of group, etc.

• Arabic: شَيْخ‏‎ (ar) m (šayḵ), قَائِد‏‎ m (qāʾid)
• Armenian: առաջնորդ (hy) (aṙaǰnord)
• Bulgarian: вожд (bg) m (vožd), основен (bg) (osnoven), главен (bg) (glaven)
• Catalan: cap (ca) m
• Chichewa: mfumu
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 頭子 (zh), 头子 (zh) (tóuzi)

• Czech: náčelník (cs) m
• Estonian: pealik
• Finnish: johtaja (fi)
• French: chef (fr) m
• Friulian: cjâf m, dûs m
• Galician: xefe (gl) m
• German: Häuptling (de) m, Oberhaupt (de) n
• Greek: αρχηγός (el) m, f (archigós)
• Ido: chefo (io)
• Italian: capo (it) m
• Japanese: 長 (ja) (ちょう, chō), チーフ (chīfu)
• Khmer: មេ (km) (mei)
• Latin: prīnceps (la) m; praepositus
• Manx: ard-er m, ard-ghooinney m
• Maori: rangatira (mi), poumatua, ariki (mi)
• Mi'kmaq: saqamaw anim, saqama'sgw anim

• Munsee: kíhkay
• Navajo: naatʼáanii
• Ngarrindjeri: rupelli
• Norman: chef m
• Old Turkic: 𐰋𐰏‏‎ (beg)
• Pashto: ملک‏‎ m (malak)
• Polish: wódz (pl) m
• Portuguese: chefe (pt) m, líder (pt) m, f
• Rapa Nui: 'ariki
• Romanian: căpetenie (ro) f, șef (ro) m
• Russian: вождь (ru) m (voždʹ), гла́вный (ru) m (glávnyj)
• Samoan: matai
• Scottish Gaelic: ceannard m
• Serbo-Croatian: poglavar (sh) m, poglavica (sh) m, vođa (sh) m
• Spanish: jefe (es) m
• Swahili: chifu (sw), jumbe
• Tagalog: puno (tl)
• Talysh:

  Asalemi: رئیس‏‎ (rais), رییس‏‎ (rais)

• Taos: łòwa’ána, tə̀ot’ų́nena (of town or house)
• Tok Pisin: bigman
• Westrobothnian: ö´fwĕrhējt f
• Zulu: inkosi (zu) class 9/6

head of an organization

• Arabic: رَئِيس‏‎ m (raʾīs), مُدِير‏‎ m (mudīr), شَيْخ‏‎ (ar) m (šayḵ)
• Armenian: պետ (hy) (pet), ղեկավար (hy) (łekavar), տնօրեն (hy) (tnōren)
• Bulgarian: шеф (bg) m (šef), нача́лник (bg) m (načálnik), ръководи́тел (bg) m (rǎkovodítel)
• Catalan: cap (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 長 (zh), 长 (zh) (zhǎng), 頭 (zh), 头 (zh) (tóu)

• Czech: náčelník m (fire chief), šéf (cs) m
• Finnish: johtaja (fi), päällikkö (fi)
• French: chef (fr) m
• Galician: xefe (gl) m
• German: Chef (de) m, (slang) Boss (de) m
• Greek: αρχηγός (el) m, f (archigós)
• Icelandic: please add this translation if you can
• Ido: chefo (io)

• Japanese: 長 (ja) (ちょう, chō)
• Manx: ard-er m, ard-ghooinney m
• Maori: whakataka, rangatira (mi)
• Norman: chef m
• Persian: فرنشین‏‎ (fa) (farnešin), مدیر‏‎ (fa) (modir)
• Polish: szef (pl) m
• Portuguese: chefe (pt) m, manda-chuva (pt) m
• Romanian: șef (ro) m
• Russian: нача́льник (ru) m (načálʹnik), руководи́тель (ru) m (rukovodítelʹ), шеф (ru) m (šef)
• Scottish Gaelic: ceannard m
• Serbo-Croatian: šef (sh) m
• Spanish: jefe (es) m
• Tagalog: puno (tl)
• Zulu: inhloko class 9/10

heraldic term

• Catalan: cap (ca) m
• Czech: hlava štítu f
• Dutch: schildhoofd n
• Finnish: lakio
• French: chef (fr) m
• German: Schildhaupt n

• Italian: capo (it) m
• Polish: głowica (pl) f
• Portuguese: chefe (pt) m
• Spanish: jefe (es) m
• Swedish: ginstam c, chef (sv) c

informal address

• Finnish: johtaja (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Japanese: 長 (ちょう, chō) (1,2); 長官 (ちょうかん, chōkan) (1,2)
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} nečelnik, ^{(please verify)} vožd, ^{(please verify)} vodja

• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} hövding c (1)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} ağa (tr)

AdjectiveEdit

chief (not comparable)

1. Primary; principal.

   Negligence was the chief cause of the disaster.

TranslationsEdit

primary; principal

• Catalan: principal (ca)
• Czech: hlavní (cs)
• Galician: principal (gl)
• German: hauptsächlich (de), primär (de)

• Greek: κύριος (el) m (kýrios)
• Maori: matua
• Portuguese: chefe (pt), principal (pt)
• Russian: гла́вный (ru) (glávnyj), основно́й (ru) (osnovnój)

See alsoEdit

• chiefest (superlative)
• chef

VerbEdit

chief (third-person singular simple present chiefs, present participle chiefing, simple past and past participle chiefed)

1. (US, slang) To smoke cannabis.
   • 2012, Marquis "Cream" Cureton, When the Smoke Clears (page 268)

     He chiefed on the bud like a pro, taking long deep hits and holding it within until he had inhaled as much of the weed smoke as he could.

StatisticsEdit

Most common English words before 1923 in Project Gutenberg: gentleman · persons · wrote · #610: chief · company · sweet · duty

AnagramsEdit

• cheif, fiche, fiché

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Middle FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old French chief.

NounEdit

chief m (plural chiefs)

1. head

DescendantsEdit

• French: chef

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Old FrenchEdit

Alternative formsEdit

• cap (La Vie de Saint Léger, circa 980)
• chef
• cief

EtymologyEdit

First known attestation 881 in The Sequence of Saint Eulalia. From Vulgar Latin *capum, from Latin caput.

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /tʃief/

NounEdit

chief m (oblique plural chiés, nominative singular chiés, nominative plural chief)

1. (anatomy) head
   • circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:

     Le chief li desarme et la face.

     He exposed his head and his face.

2. leader, chief
3. front (foremost side of something)

DescendantsEdit

• English: chief, chef (via Modern French chef)
• Middle French: chief
  • French: chef