chief
Primary; principal.
Adjective
- Primary; principal.
- Negligence was the chief cause of the disaster.
- […] But when we find that they [volcanoes] are but few in Number, and the chiefeſt of thoſe too near the torrid Zone, and from their Tops to iſſue forth, now clear Fire, then thick, black Smoke, and ſometimes little or...
- Researchers found that one of the chief effects of drinking was to reduce people's ability to monitor their own behavior. - 2011, Roy F. Baumeister, John Tierney, Willpower, →ISBN, page 113:
- Intimate, friendly.
- 'You’re doing it because she was your friend, not because she was a parishioner, and certainly not because of the Declaratory Articles,' Macmurray said, pushing himself forward on his seat. 'Everybody knows how chief...
Origin
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *káput Proto-Italic *kaput Latin caput Vulgar Latin capus Old French chiefbor. Middle English chef English chief Inherited from Middle English chef, borrowed from Old French chief, from Vulgar Latin capus, from Latin caput, from Proto-Italic *kaput, from Proto-Indo-European *káput, from *kap-. Doublet of cape (“point of land”), capo, caput, and chef through Latin (possibly also related to cape (“sleeveless garment”) and cap (“head covering”) from Latin cappa); doublet of head and Howth through Proto-Indo-European.
Forms
Derived
air chief marshal assistant chief constable chief cell chief constable chief cook and bottle washer chief cook and bottle-washer chief editor chief executive chief executive officer CEO chief experience officer chief financial officer chief information officer chief inspector chief judge chief justice chief-justice chief legal officer chief lord chiefly chief magistrate chief mate chief medical advisor chief medical officer
Noun
- The leader or head of a tribe, organisation, business unit, or other group.
- In virtue of this privilege, in testimony of my affectionate respect for a revered chief, in conformity with what I believe to be the wish of all the Members of the scientific department, over which I have the honour to...
- My father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, was a chief by both blood and custom. - 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 4:
- All firefighters report to the fire chief.
Synonyms: leader head director commander governor boss administrator manager
- Headship, the status of being a chief or leader.
- Bob is our troubleshooter in chief.
- The top part of a shield or escutcheon; more specifically, an ordinary consisting of the upper part of the field cut off by a horizontal line, generally occupying the top third.
- When the Chief is Charged with any figure, in blazon it is said to be "On a Chief". - 1889, Charles Norton Elvin, A Dictionary of Heraldry:
- The shield was silver, charged with a red cross voided (that is, with the centre cut out and only the edges left), between in chief (that is, above the horizontal limb of the cross) two black dragon's wings, and in base...
- The principal part or top of anything.
- An informal term of address.
- “How old are you, chief?” the elevator guy said. - 1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 119:
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(offensive) An informal term of address for a Native American or First Nations man.
Forms
Synonyms
Hyponyms
Related
Derived
archchief arch-chief band chief base chief big white chief case-in-chief case in chief champion-in-chief champion in chief chiefdom chiefery chiefess chief hare chiefhood chiefie chiefless chiefling chiefly chief of party chief of police chief of staff chief of state chief rent chiefry
Verb
- To smoke cannabis.