Adjacent Words

Chief definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CHIEF, a.
1. Highest in office or rank; principal; as a chief priest; the chief butler. Gen
40:9.
Among the chief rulers, many believed on him. John 12.
2. Principal or most eminent, in any quality or action; most distinguished; having most influence; commanding most respect; taking the lead; most valuable; most important; a word of extensive use; as a country chief in arms.
The hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass. Ezra 9.
Agriculture is the chief employment of men.
3. First in affection; most dear and familiar.
A whisperer separateth chief friends. Proverbs 16.
CHIEF, n.
1. A commander; particularly a military commander; the person who heads an army; equivalent to the modern terms, commander or general in chief, captain general, or generalissimo. 1 Chronicles 11.
2. The principal person of a tribe, family, or congregation, etc.
Numbers 3. Job 29. Math. 20.
3. In chief, in English law, in capite. To hold land in chief is to hold it directly from the king by honorable personal services.
4. In heraldry, chief signifies the head or upper part of the escutcheon, from side to side, representing a mans head. In chief, imports something borne in this part.
5. In Spenser, it seems to signify something like achievement, a mark of distinction; as, chaplets wrought with a chief.
6. This word is often used, in the singular number, to express a plurality.
I took the chief of your tribes, wise men and known, and made them heads over you. Deu
1:15.
These were the chief of the officers, that were over Solomons work. 1 Kings 9.
In these phrases, chief may have been primarily an adjective, that is, chief men, chief persons.
7. The principal part; the most or largest part, of one thing or of many.
The people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed. 2 Samuel 15.
He smote the chief of their strength. Psalms 68.
The chief of the debt remains unpaid.
CHIEF, adv. Chiefly.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: most important element; "the chief aim of living"; "the main doors were of solid glass"; "the principal rivers of America"; "the principal example"; "policemen were primary targets"; "the master bedroom"; "a master switch" [syn: chief, main, primary, principal, master] n
1: a person who is in charge; "the head of the whole operation" [syn: head, chief, top dog]
2: a person who exercises control over workers; "if you want to leave early you have to ask the foreman" [syn: foreman, chief, gaffer, honcho, boss]
3: the head of a tribe or clan [syn: headman, tribal chief, chieftain, chief]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Date: 14th century 1. accorded highest rank or office <chief librarian> 2. of greatest importance or influence <the chief reasons> II. adverb Date: 14th century archaic chiefly III. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French chief, chef head, chief, from Latin caput head — more at head Date: 15th century 1. the upper part of a heraldic field 2. the head of a body of persons or an organization ; leader <chief of police> 3. the principal or most valuable part <would never rest till she had read the chief of the letter to him — Jane Austen> • chiefdom noun • chiefship noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & adj. --n. 1 a a leader or ruler. b the head of a tribe, clan, etc. 2 the head of a department; the highest official. 3 Heraldry the upper third of a shield. --adj. (usu. attrib.) 1 first in position, importance, influence, etc. (chief engineer). 2 prominent, leading. Phrases and idioms: Chief of Staff the senior staff officer of a service or command. -in-Chief supreme (Commander-in-Chief). Derivatives: chiefdom n. Etymology: ME f. OF ch(i)ef ult. f. L caput head

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Chief Chief (ch[=e]n), n. [OE. chief, chef, OF. chief, F. chef, fr. L. caput head, possibly akin to E. head. Cf. Captain, Chapter] 1. The head or leader of any body of men; a commander, as of an army; a head man, as of a tribe, clan, or family; a person in authority who directs the work of others; the principal actor or agent. 2. The principal part; the most valuable portion. The chief of the things which should be utterly destroyed. --1 Sam. xv. 21 3. (Her.) The upper third part of the field. It is supposed to be composed of the dexter, sinister, and middle chiefs. In chief. (a) At the head; as, a commander in chief. (b) (Eng. Law) From the king, or sovereign; as, tenure in chief, tenure directly from the king. Syn: Chieftain; captain; general; commander; leader; head; principal; sachem; sagamore; sheik. Usage: Chief, chieftain, Commander, Leader. These words fluctuate somewhat in their meaning according to circumstances, but agree in the general idea of rule and authority. The term chief is now more usually applied to one who is a head man, leader, or commander in civil or military affairs, or holds a hereditary or acquired rank in a tribe or clan; as, the chief of police; the chief of an Indian tribe. A chieftain is the chief of a clan or tribe, or a military leader. A commander directs the movements of or has control over a body of men, as a military or naval force. A leader is one whom men follow, as in a political party, a legislative body, a military or scientific expedition, etc., one who takes the command and gives direction in particular enterprises.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Chief Chief, a. 1. Highest in office or rank; principal; head. ``Chief rulers.'' --John. xii. 42. 2. Principal or most eminent in any quality or action; most distinguished; having most influence; taking the lead; most important; as, the chief topic of conversation; the chief interest of man. 3. Very intimate, near, or close. [Obs.] A whisperer separateth chief friends. --Prov. xvi. 28. Syn: Principal; head; leading; main; paramount; supreme; prime; vital; especial; great; grand; eminent; master.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(chiefs) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. The chief of an organization is the person who is in charge of it. ...a commission appointed by the police chief. ...Putin's chief of security. N-COUNT: with supp 2. The chief of a tribe is its leader. ...Sitting Bull, chief of the Sioux tribes of the Great Plains. N-COUNT; N-TITLE 3. Chief is used in the job titles of the most senior worker or workers of a particular kind in an organization. ...the chief test pilot. = head ADJ: ADJ n 4. The chief cause, part, or member of something is the most important one. Financial stress is well established as a chief reason for divorce... The job went to one of his chief rivals. = main, principal ADJ: ADJ n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

chef: The English word is in the King James Version of Old Testament the translation of some 17 different Hebrew words, most frequently of ro'sh, "head," sar, "prince," and re'shith, "beginning." The principal changes made by the Revised Version (British and American) are:

(1) Hebrew beth'abh, "house of a father," being recognized as a technical term denoting a subdivision of a tribe, ro'sh is rendered literally "head," when it occurs in connection with this phrase, so that "chief fathers" (Num 31:26) and "chief of the fathers" (Ezr 1:5) become "heads of fathers' houses";

(2) Hebrew naghidh and nasi' are more accurately translated "prince" in such passages as 1Ch 5:2; Nu 3:32;

(3) the misinterpretations which brought about the translation "chief" for 'atsilim, "corners," Isa 41:9, and for ma`aleh, "ascent," in 2Ch 32:33, are corrected.

In the New Testament "chief" is in most of its appearances the translation of Greek protos, "first"; the Revised Version (British and American) reads "first" for the King James Version "chief," "chiefest," in Mt 20:27; Mr 10:44; Ac 16:12. The reading in the latter passage is a difficult one, but the King James Version "Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia," seems to imply a political authority which Philippi did not possess; the Revised Version (British and American) "a city of Macedonia, the first of the district." Greek archon, "prince," "ruler," is rendered by the King James Version "chief," by the Revised Version (British and American) "prince," in Lu 11:15; the King James Version "chief Pharisees," the Revised Version (British and American) "rulers of the Pharisees," in Lu 14:1.

The original meaning of "chief" having been weakened, the comparative and superlative were admitted into English, the latter only appearing in the King James Version or the Revised Version: 1Sa 2:29; So 5:10; 2Co 11:5, etc. On "chief of Asia" (Ac 19:31 the King James Version) see ASIARCH.

F. K. Farr

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Leading, headmost, first, supreme, most eminent. 2. Principal, main, prime, vital, essential, capital, especial, great, grand, cardinal, master, supreme, paramount, grand, most important. II. n. 1. Chieftain, commander. 2. Leader, head, corypheus, principal person.

Moby Thesaurus

A per se, Big Brother, ace, achievement, acmatic, alerion, all-absorbing, animal charge, annulet, anointed king, antecedent, anterior, apical, arch, argent, armorial bearings, armory, arms, ascendant, at the head, auditor, azure, bandeau, banner, bar, bar sinister, baton, bearings, bend, bend sinister, big cheese, big wheel, big-timer, bigwig, billet, blazon, blazonry, boatswain, bordure, boss, broad arrow, bwana, cadency mark, canton, capital, captain, cardinal, central, champion, chaplet, charge, chef, chevron, chieftain, church dignitary, coat of arms, cock, cockatrice, commander, commanding, comptroller, consequential, consummate, controller, controlling, coronet, crescent, crest, cross, cross moline, crown, crowned head, crowning, dean, device, dictator, difference, differencing, dignitary, directing, directive, directorial, directory, dominant, doyen, doyenne, duce, dynast, eagle, ecclesiarch, effective, elder, electronics king, eminence, emperor, employer, ermine, ermines, erminites, erminois, escutcheon, essential, exordial, falcon, fess, fess point, field, file, first, first and foremost, flanch, fleur-de-lis, floor manager, floorman, floorwalker, focal, fore, foregoing, forehand, foreman, foremost, forward, fret, front, frontal, fugleman, fuhrer, fur, fusil, gaffer, ganger, garland, general, genius, goodman, governing, governor, grand duke, great, greatest, griffin, guiding, gules, guru, gyron, hatchment, head, heading, headman, headmost, hegemonic, hegemonistic, helmet, heraldic device, hierarch, high chief, high priest, higher-up, highest, himself, honcho, honor point, husband, impalement, impaling, imperator, important, important person, in ascendancy, in charge, in chief, in the ascendant, inescutcheon, initiatory, inspector, key, king, king-emperor, kingfish, kinglet, kingpin, label, laureate, lead, leader, leading, leading light, liege, liege lord, lion, lord, lord paramount, lozenge, luminary, magisterial, maiden, main, majesty, major, man, manager, managerial, managing, mantling, marshaling, martlet, mascle, master, master spirit, maximal, maximum, meridian, meridional, metal, momentous, monarch, monitor, motto, mullet, nombril point, noncommissioned officer, nonpareil, notability, number one, octofoil, or, ordinary, orle, outstanding, overlord, overman, overmost, overriding, overruling, overseer, padrone, pale, paly, paragon, paramount, paterfamilias, patriarch, patron, pean, personage, petty king, pheon, potent, potentate, precedent, preceding, precessional, precursory, predominant, predominate, preeminent, prefatory, preliminary, preludial, prelusive, premier, preparatory, prepollent, preponderant, preponderate, prepotent, prevailing, prevalent, prevenient, prima donna, primal, primary, prime, prince, prince consort, principal, prior, proctor, prodigy, proemial, prominent, propaedeutic, purpure, quarter, quartering, rabbi, ranking, regnant, regulating, regulative, regulatory, reigning, ringleader, rose, royal, royal personage, royalty, ruler, ruling, sable, sahib, saltire, scutcheon, seigneur, seignior, senior, shield, significant, sirdar, slave driver, sovereign, spread eagle, star, starets, stellar, straw boss, subforeman, subordinary, summital, super, supereminent, superintendent, superior, superman, superstar, supervisor, supreme, surveyor, suzerain, taskmaster, teacher, telling, tenne, tetrarch, the greatest, the most, tincture, tip-top, top, top dog, topflight, topmost, torse, tressure, ultimate, unicorn, upmost, uppermost, vair, vert, vertical, virtuoso, visitor, weighty, wreath, yale, zenithal