chieftain

Pronunciation: /ˈt͡ʃiːf.tən/

The English word “chieftain” has 2 meanings listed here.

noun

A leader of a clan or tribe.
A leader of a group.

Etymology

From Middle English cheveteyn, cheftayne, from Old French chevetaine, from Late Latin capitaneus (English captain), from Latin caput (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *kauput- (English head), itself from Proto-Indo-European *kap-. Doublet of captain; related to chief.

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More English words

chiefness
chiefrie
chiefry
chiefship
chieftaincy
chieftaindom
chieftainess
chieftainly

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.