chief
pronunciation
How to pronounce chief in British English:
UK [tʃiːf]
How to pronounce chief in American English:
US [tʃiːf]
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- Noun:
- a person who is in charge
- a person who exercises control over workers
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- Adjective:
- most important element
Word Origin
- chief
- chief: [13] Etymologically, the chief is the ‘head’. The word comes via Old French chef or chief and Vulgar Latin *capum from Latin caput ‘head’. The adjectival use is equally as old as the noun use in English. Other English offshoots of *capum are cape and, via the diminutive form *capitellus, cadet, and it also forms the basis of achieve.The form which has come through into modern French is, of course, chef, which entered English in the sense ‘cook’ (short for chef de cuisine ‘head of the kitchen’) in the 19th century. Chieftain [14] comes via Old French chevetaine from late Latin capitāneus (a derivative of caput ‘head’), which was later reborrowed as captain.=> achieve, cadet, cape, captain, chef
- 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).
- chief (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.
Antonym
Example
- 1. But mr weldon remains chief executive .
- 2. His chief executive and heir apparent , yang yuanqing , is a dynamic 36-year-old .
- 3. The chief snags are cost and convenience .
- 4. The chief nurse scowled from her station .
- 5. He telephoned the glad news to the big chief .