chief

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tʃiːf/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːf

Noun

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.

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. ​A head officer in a department, organization etc.; a boss. [from 17th c.]

   All firefighters report to the fire chief.

4. An informal address to an equal.

   Hey, chief.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:boss

Derived terms

Look at pages starting with chief.

Derived terms

chief constable chiefess chief executive chief executive officer/CEO chief legal officer chief mate chief of staff chief of state chief petty officer

commander in chief dexter chief editor in chief fire chief in chief police chief war chief

Related terms

• captain
• chef
• chieftain

Translations

leader of group etc

• Arabic: شيخ (ar) (šayx) m, قائد (ar) (qāʾid) m
• Bulgarian: вожд (bg) (vožd) m, основен (bg) (osnoven), главен (bg) (glaven)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 頭子 (cmn), 头子 (cmn) (tóuzi)

• Czech: náčelník (cs) m
• Estonian: pealik (et)
• Galician: xefe (gl) m
• German: Häuptling (de) m
• Greek: αρχηγός (el) (archigós) m and f
• Japanese: チーフ (ja) (chīfu)
• Jèrriais: chef m
• Latin: prīnceps (la) m
• Manx: ard-er (gv) m, ard-ghooinney (gv) m
• Maori: rangatira
• Ngarrindjeri: rupelli

• Polish: wódz (pl) m
• Rapa Nui: 'ariki
• Romanian: căpetenie (ro) f, șef (ro) m
• Russian: вождь (ru) (vožd’) m, главный (ru) (glávnyj) m
• Samoan: matai (sm)
• Scottish Gaelic: ceannard (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian: poglavar (sh) m, poglavica (sh) m, vođa (sh) m
• Spanish: jefe (es) m
• Swahili: chifu (sw)
• Talysh:

  Asalemi: رئیس (rais), رییس (rais)

• Taos: łòwa’ána, tə̀ot’ų́nena (of town or house)
• Tok Pisin: bigman (tpi)
• Zulu: inkosi (zu) 9/6

head of an organization

• Arabic: رئيس (ar) (raʾīs) m, مدير (ar) (mudīr) m, شيخ (ar) (šayx) m
• Armenian: պետ (pet)
• Bulgarian: шеф (bg) (šef) m, началник (bg) (načálnik) m, ръководител (bg) (rǎkovodítel) m
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: náčelník m (fire chief), šéf m
• Galician: xefe (gl) m
• German: Chef (de) m, (slang) Boss (de) m
• Greek: αρχηγός (el) (archigós) m and f
• Japanese: 長 (ja) (ちょう, chō)

• Jèrriais: chef m
• Manx: ard-er (gv) m, ard-ghooinney (gv) m
• Persian: فرنشین (fa) (farnešin), مدیر (fa) (modir)
• Polish: szef (pl) m
• Romanian: șef (ro) m
• Russian: начальник (ru) (načál’nik) m, руководитель (ru) (rukovodítel’) m, шеф (ru) (šef) m
• Scottish Gaelic: ceannard (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian: šef (sh) m
• Zulu: inhloko (zu) 9/10

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 Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Czech: hlava f (3)
• Ido: chefo
• Japanese: 長 (ちょう, chō) (1,2); 長官 (ちょうかん, chōkan) (1,2)
• Serbo-Croatian: nečelnik, vožd, vodja

• Spanish: jefe m (1), (2)
• Swedish: hövding c (1)
• Turkish: ağa (tr)

Adjective

chief (not comparable)

1. Primary; principal.

   Negligence was the chief cause of the disaster.

Translations

primary; principal

• Catalan: principal (ca)
• Czech: hlavní (cs)
• Galician: principal (gl)

• German: hauptsächlich (de), primär (de)
• Greek: κύριος (el) (kýrios) m
• Russian: главный (ru) (glávnyj), основной (ru) (osnovnój)

See also

• chef

Statistics

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

Anagrams

• fiche

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Old French

Alternative forms

• chef
• cief

Etymology

From Latin caput.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tʃief/

Noun

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)

Descendants

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