chief

[cheef] /tʃif/
noun
1.
the head or leader of an organized body of people; the person highest in authority:
the chief of police.
2.
the head or ruler of a tribe or clan:
an Indian chief.
3.
(initial capital letter) U.S. Army. a title of some advisers to the Chief of Staff, who do not, in most instances, command the troop units of their arms or services:
Chief of Engineers; Chief Signal Officer.
4.
Informal. boss or leader:
We'll have to talk to the chief about this.
5.
Heraldry.
  1. the upper area of an escutcheon.
  2. an ordinary occupying this area.
adjective
6.
highest in rank or authority:
the chief priest; the chief administrator.
7.
most important; principal:
his chief merit; the chief difficulty.
adverb
8.
Archaic. chiefly; principally.
Idioms
9.
in chief,
  1. in the chief position; highest in rank (used in combination):
    editor in chief; commander in chief.
  2. Heraldry. in the upper part of an escutcheon.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English < Anglo-French chief, chef, Old French chef < Vulgar Latin *capum, re-formation of Latin caput head
Related forms
chiefless, adjective
chiefship, noun
subchief, noun
underchief, noun
Can be confused
chef, chief.
Synonyms
7. foremost, leading, prime, paramount, cardinal. See capital1 .
Antonyms
6. subordinate.
Examples from the web for chief
  • Yet the chief suspect in the minds of many ornithologists is that picture of doe-eyed innocence-the deer.
  • Chairmen and non-executive directors are to challenge chief executives and their boards far more often.
  • By the second half of the eighteenth century, spectacles were one of the chief attractions of the theatre.
  • The chief engineer comes to the bridge with a hopeless report.
  • For you may imagine what kind of faith theirs was, when the chief doctors and fathers of their church were the poets.
  • Robberies, murders and abductions are the chief ingredients.
  • The commander in chief's mood was as bleak as the landscape.
  • During the last visit, her chief complaint had been irritated sores on the scalp.
  • The decline has allowed scientists to focus on more subtle traumas, and concussions are chief among them.
  • The chief executive has to have the ability and authority to function.
British Dictionary definitions for chief

chief

/tʃiːf/
noun
1.
the head, leader, or most important individual in a group or body of people
2.
another word for chieftain (sense 2)
3.
(heraldry) the upper third of a shield
4.
in chief, primarily; especially
adjective
5.
(prenominal)
  1. most important; principal
  2. highest in rank or authority
adverb
6.
(archaic) principally
Word Origin
C13: from Old French, from Latin caput head
Word Origin and History for chief
adj.

c.1300, "highest in rank or power; most important or prominent; supreme, best," from Old French chief "chief, principal, first" (10c., Modern French chef), from Vulgar Latin *capum (also source of Spanish and Portuguese cabo, Italian capo, Provençal cap), from Latin caput "head," also "leader, guide, chief person; summit; capital city" (see capitulum).

n.

c.1300, "head, leader, captain; the principal or most important part of anything;" from Old French chief "leader, ruler, head" of something, "capital city" (10c., Modern French chef), from Vulgar Latin *capum, from Latin caput "head," also "leader, chief person; summit; capital city" (see capitulum). Meaning "head of a clan" is from 1570s; later extended to American Indian tribes. Commander-in-chief attested from 1660s.

Slang definitions & phrases for chief

chief

noun
  1. A man; fellow; guy, mac •Usu in direct address to a stranger, with a sense of ironic deference (1930s+)
  2. lsd (1960s+ Narcotics)
Related Terms

too many chiefs and not enough indians