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chieftain - definition and meaning
Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
noun The leader or head of a group, especially of a clan or tribe.
from The Century Dictionary.
noun A captain, leader, or commander; a chief; the head of a troop, army, or clan.
noun Synonyms Commander, Leader , etc. See chief .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
noun A captain, leader, or commander; a chief; the head of a troop, army, or clan.
from Wiktionary , Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
noun A leader of a clan or tribe .
noun A leader of a group, e.g. a robbers' chieftain.
noun capitalized The name of a British military tank.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
noun the head of a tribe or clan
noun the leader of a group of people
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Middle English cheftain , from Old French chevetain , from Late Latin capitāneus , from Latin caput , head; see kaput- in Indo-European roots.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From Middle English cheftayne, a variant of Old French chevetaine , from Late Latin capitaneus (English captain ), from Latin caput ("head"), from Proto-Indo-European *kauput- (English head ).
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Examples
During these various operations – for the whole family seemed eager to show their hospitality – the old man discovered, not so much by the costliness of his garments as by the noble mien and gentle manners of the stranger, that he was some chieftain from the castle.
The Scottish Chiefs 1875
The rebel-chieftain is let go with the honors of war.
President Lincoln's Death: Its Voice to the People 1865
Whenever a chieftain was assigned, an item authenticating his rank (xinwu) was given to him by the court, symbolizing the establishment of the relationship.
Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE) 2008
It seems that there was a certain Irish chieftain named Dichu who was told that a strange ship had just landed.
The Pawprints of History STANLEY COREN 2002
It seems that there was a certain Irish chieftain named Dichu who was told that a strange ship had just landed.
The Pawprints of History STANLEY COREN 2002
It seems that there was a certain Irish chieftain named Dichu who was told that a strange ship had just landed.
The Pawprints of History STANLEY COREN 2002
It seems that there was a certain Irish chieftain named Dichu who was told that a strange ship had just landed.
The Pawprints of History STANLEY COREN 2002
A chieftain must be rooted in the clan, for the chieftain is the clan.
The Covenant of the Forge Parkinson, Dan 1993
A chieftain must be rooted in the clan, for the chieftain is the clan.
The Covenant of the Forge Parkinson, Dan 1993
Philosophique, &c., tom.i. p. 457.] 80 This Gothic chieftain is called by Jornandes and Isidore, Athaulphus; by Zosimus and
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1206
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