chief
/tʃiːf
/- And very few of them are presided over by local aristocrats or clan chiefs.
- And even in Gaelic tales, the island earned fame for being the penal colony where clan chiefs put their enemies in exile.
- Some clan chiefs hedged their bets and sent sons off to fight on opposing sides.
Synonyms
- Mickey's evidence comes from a bureau chief of one of the news organizations.
- The discussions between the unions and council chiefs are deadlocked because the employers say they cannot afford to increase their offer.
- Police chiefs say the federal government must first secure the country's borders.
Synonyms
- Ah, it's just the main troops, Timmy, nothing to worry about, chief!
- Maybe at one time, chief, but the carpet cops have taken over.
- There's a button on the left of your keyboard somewhere with the words ‘Caps Lock’ printed on it, chief.
- The chief concern among skeptics is that young people are not mature or intelligent enough to vote properly.
- Among the chief concerns is the bank's investment portfolio, which now makes up more than half of its assets.
- Among the chief tactics of the fallen principalities and powers is the incitement of fear.
Synonyms
- With him he had one of his chief advisers and commanders.
- He stayed with the brigade, rising through the ranks to chief fire officer, until it was disbanded when the works closed in 1982.
- He quickly moved through the ranks to become chief engineer by the outbreak of WWII.
Phrases
chief cook and bottle-washer
in chief
too many chiefs and not enough Indians
Derivatives
chiefdom
/ noun ...- How do we expect development to take place in such chiefdoms?
- Within the area of his chiefdom, which extends far beyond the village, live 6,800 people.
- The area was divided into independent chiefdoms.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French chief, chef, based on Latin caput 'head'.
capital from Middle English:
The first meaning of capital was ‘to do with the head or the top of something’. From this evolved such modern meanings as ‘the large form of a letter’ and ‘the chief city or town in a country’. The word goes back to Latin caput ‘head’. Capital in the financial sense was originally the capital stock of a company or trader, their main or original funds. The use as an adjective meaning ‘excellent’, now old-fashioned, dates from the mid 18th century. The capital of a column comes via French from Latin capitellum ‘a little head’. To capitulate (mid 16th century) is to admit that you are defeated and surrender. When it first entered the language it meant ‘to parley or draw up terms’, having come via French from medieval Latin capitulare ‘to draw up under headings’. Like capital, its ultimate root is Latin caput ‘head’, source also of cap, chapter, chief (Middle English), and captain (Late Middle English), both the ‘head’ of a group of people, and decapitate (early 17th century).