chiefdom

American  

[cheef-duhm] / ˈtʃif dəm /

noun

1. the rank or office of a chief.

2. the territory or people over which a chief rules.

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Etymology

Origin of chiefdom

First recorded in 1570–80; chief + -dom

Example Sentences

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

Near the Atlantic was the chiefdom of Marajo, based on an enormous island at the mouth of the river.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann