chieftain

American  

[cheef-tuhn, -tin] / ˈtʃif tən, -tɪn /

noun

1. the chief of a clan or a tribe.

2. a leader of a group, band, etc..

   the robbers' chieftain.

3. Military. Chieftain, Britain's main battle tank since 1969, fitted with a 120 mm gun and two machine guns and weighing 55 tons (50 metric tons).

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chieftain British  

/ ˈtʃiːftən, -tɪn /

noun

1. the head or leader of a tribe or clan

2. the chief of a group of people

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Other Word Forms

• chieftaincy noun
• chieftainship noun

Etymology

Origin of chieftain

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English cheftayne, variant of chevetaine, from Old French, from Late Latin capitāneus “chief”; captain

Example Sentences

The disconnect between slackening activity and the increasing yield has mystified even oil chieftains.

From The Wall Street Journal

He became so indispensable to Bernanke as a go-between with Wall Street chieftains and GOP leaders that Fed staffers developed a familiar refrain: “Have you run it by Warsh?”

From The Wall Street Journal

Zero rates took the pressure off corporate chieftains to restructure, innovate, and take risks, as Japan Inc. did before QE arrived.

From Barron's

Zero rates took the pressure off corporate chieftains to restructure, innovate, and take risks, as Japan Inc. did before QE arrived.

From Barron's

All of this—the building, the branding, the energy evident in the city and its corporate chieftains—caught the eye of a young artist who had recently moved to New York.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bigwig
• boss
• tribal chief