chieftain

[ cheef-tuhn, -tin ]
See synonyms for chieftain on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the chief of a clan or a tribe.

  2. a leader of a group, band, etc.: the robbers' chieftain.

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

Origin of chieftain

1
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English cheftayne, variant of chevetaine, from Old French, from Late Latin capitāneus “chief”; see captain

Other words from chieftain

  • chief·tain·cy, chief·tain·ship, noun

Words Nearby chieftain

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How to use chieftain in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for chieftain

chieftain

/ (ˈtʃiːftən, -tɪn) /


noun
  1. the head or leader of a tribe or clan

  2. the chief of a group of people

Origin of chieftain

1
C14: from Old French chevetaine, from Late Latin capitāneus commander; see captain

Derived forms of chieftain

  • chieftaincy or chieftainship, noun

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