Etymology
Origin of chiefdom
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As Baumgartel explained, "We believe these people were egalitarian hunter-gatherers, not subjects to some powerful chiefdom."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 24, 2025
In the early 1200s, the southern Soninke chiefdom of Sosso took over most of former Ghana as well as the Malinke people.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
Archaeologists believe Tequesta, which straddled both banks of the Miami River, became the capital of a chiefdom that stretched across southeast Florida from roughly 500 B.C.E. to the 1500s C.E.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 10, 2023
Under the Piscataway chiefdom, other tribes — including the Yaocomico, Mattawoman, Pamunkey, Mattaponi and Nanjemoy — were interconnected with their own systems of justice, governing and defending themselves.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 7, 2022
In contrast, no early chiefdom not on the verge of statehood developed writing.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
