chieftain
pronunciation
How to pronounce chieftain in British English:
UK [ˈtʃiːftən]
How to pronounce chieftain in American English:
US [ˈtʃiːftən]
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- Noun:
- the leader of a group of people
- the head of a tribe or clan
Word Origin
- chieftain (n.)
- early 14c., cheftayne "ruler, chief, head" of something, from Anglo-French chiefteyn, Old French chevetain "captain, chief, leader," from Late Latin capitaneus "commander," from Latin capitis, genitive of caput "head" (see capitulum). According to "Rob Roy" (1818) a Highland chieftain was the head of a branch of a clan, a chief was the head of the whole name. Related: Chieftainship.
Example
- 1. But do not suggest that he is a wall street chieftain .
- 2. But the mystique that surrounded the terrorist chieftain in life is persisting in death .
- 3. On the island of fiji , they were worn on a necklace by a chieftain as a symbol of status and rank .
- 4. Baradar may have had better credentials as mullah omar 's brother-in-law and longtime confidant , but he was a consensus seeker , in the mold of a traditional tribal chieftain .
- 5. As one of mr clegg 's predecessors put it , where the prime minister wakes up thinking about what he has to do , and the tory leader ponders what to say , the lib dem chieftain wonders how to make anybody pay him the slightest attention .